Renegades: The Story of Kaia Magnolia
by TrinityOwl
Summary: Kaia, an orphan of unknown origins, was rescued by Isabel Magnolia. Coming into the only family she ever knew, Kaia was happy for a few short years. Until the day Levi inexplicably vanished with Iz and Farlan, leaving her and Noah, Farlan's younger brother, alone. After witnessing her mother's head roll Kaia vowed revenge on the world, her thirst unquenchable.
1. Vendetta

**Ch. 1: Vendetta**

The girl's slim fingers entrapped the boy's tarnished black coat. "We're going to miss them!" The pair finally arrived at the familiar dirt wall and crawled through a small brick opening to the dimly lit, abandoned basement. The walls still bore the smell of baked breads from the golden years of the old bakery, but the years were replaced by a time of economic strife, one that had always plagued Shiganshina. The sounds of the bells were shaking the dust off the cracking walls, slim beams of light breaking through the only evidence of the dust's girl, no more than 11, ran through these beams creating dashes and glimpses in the otherwise pitch-black room of her tattered, once-white jeans and her favorite black hoodie that she had run ragged. The boy looked on at these dashes, his mind filling in the blanks of his sister. Raggedly long brown locks of hair flowed sharply from the shadow of the hood, which had always kept her hazel eyes hidden but could never contain the bright smile and that small beauty mark that lingered an inch above her lip. He was a year older but appeared incredibly younger with a slight frame like his older brother, but the past year had been tough on the duo, and the weight loss was not helping. His inexplicably gray hair was so long now it fell over his own shimmering golden eyes and covered his rather prominent ears. All he had to his name were an old, worn pair of black britches that ended at his knee and a ragged, hole-ridden black petticoat. He took the extra time hoisting himself out of the tunnel into the room, time the girl used to remove two specific bricks she had chiseled out weeks before. Out of breath by the time he reached the wall, his excited sister hoisted him up to a matching barrel. They had planned this visit to the surface months in advance and had the perfect view to see their beloved family return from their first, real expedition.

"Finally! Oh gosh Noah I'm so excited to hear about the world!" She was practically giggling with excitement. He chuckled at this.

"I'm excited to finally be able to go back home... have food... fire... Farlan's stories..." he trailed off. "Can you see anyone yet?"

"No but I can hear the horses!" They were peering their small eyes out of the thin holes in the wall to the blaring streets of Shiganshina. "The bells are beautiful... it's a true hero's welcome, but I just want her home to-"

"Look!" Noah cried and the small pair of eyes darted to the far left corner to the wall, they were just above the heads of the crowds in front of them. The figures were coming closer while the whispers of the citizens heightened. "Oh..." The figure in the front came up first looking incredibly cold. His green hood was pulled over his head, but his big blonde eyebrows and ice blue eyes were catching glints in the rays of sun. "That guy matches the description we got so they must be...there!"

"I can't see! Where?" The girl ripped off her hood to try and get a better glimpse. Her eyes scanned the stream of broken soldiers. "BIG BRO!" She called the old nickname loudly and desperate eyes found a small hooded frame on a horse behind the big figure, who's head reflexed at the call and for just a moment... she saw the familiar steel eyes glint but his face was that of a stranger's, his head quickly snapped back forward. The girl followed his quick glimpse back to the blanketed wagon and her stomach dropped. The crowd in front of the bakery looked around at the strange call but couldn't see the eyes hidden high above them in the wall.

"Something's not right..." Noah trailed off "I don't see them with him."

"He... he looked to that wagon Noah..." Her voice was hot and scratchy as the wagon carrying the dead hit a bump in the cobblestone.

A wheel snapped and the rickety wagon broke apart on impact, the blanketed bodies began to roll out towards the bakery. The citizens parted and screamed as the blankets flew off the dead. The caravan of broken Scouts stopped and the familiar stranger, once behind the bushy browed leader, appeared at the base wall of the old bakery. He quickly recovered and hid the red pigtails under a blanket and jumped to the slight-framed torso beside her, doing the same to cover old friend's dignity. A whimper came from the wall behind him as he hoisted the blanketed torso over his shoulder and cradled the head in his other arm. The girl slammed her hands to her mouth to stop the small cries, suddenly terrified of his steel glare. His head slightly turned towards the wall, then shook the odd noise off as he stepped over the remaining dead in the street to remount his horse, blood trickling across the cobblestones as crowds screamed and mothers searched. The young eyes watched as he simply trotted away from the horror laid out before them, a head under his arm and a torso laid across the back of his horse.

Noah snapped his head up and peered around the room, not knowing how much time had passed. The two were kneeling in the dirt of the old building, the beams of light had faded, casting orange auras across the moldy room. His golden eyes followed one of the beams, ending on the smallest, sterling silver angel he'd ever known. She faced towards him but her head remained parallel to the ground, long dirty locks surrounded her head, masking her. Her slim white hand slowly rose and grabbed her black hood, it slowly fell over her head, this time to stay.

"Enough of this shit." Noah was surprised at her new voice and tone, it was smooth and confident and... cold. "Noah." Her head rose but Noah couldn't see an inch of his best friend's face, shrouded by the hood. "No one will ever take from us again." She rose, his eyes scanned the thin curves of this new stranger.

"Ka-"

"Not anymore." Her hand went to the slim chain resting on her chest, tightening and ripping it away. The hand-hammered angel charm glinted in the dirt before Noah. "Let's go." She turned and made her way back to the hole.

"Where?" Noah scrambled after her.

"Home." She was unwavering now.

"But- the mobs took..." He stopped as her silhouette was eaten by the shadows of the room. His head sunk to the ground and his hands began quivering.

"There's nothing to be afraid of Noah..." Her smooth cold voice echoed from the shadows. "I'll never let anyone take from me again... I'll never let anything happen to you. I swear to you."

"But what about him?" Noah's eyes glazed over at the memory. He was shaken back to reality by her hand, he stared into the dark shadow that was her new face.

"We can't trust him. They're gone." Her hands tightened around the boy's shoulders as tears welled in his eyes again.

"I just don't get it." Smith brought his hand to his blonde eyebrows, exasperated from the mystery. "The report has to be wrong. No one's even seen her face?"

"She's the only name in the entire organization. Apparently the rest of them go by team names..." Hange confirmed. "A year ago, the squad from the Garrison reported they saw the hood whip off for a moment when they stole 3D equipment, but even her face was black from grease. We have no trail of an identity besides her tags and the hood. We'd need a solid pattern to assure we'd catch her, she has gangs in every district and her moves are sporadic."

The last lights of the day were shining through the large glass windows, the shadows began creeping up on the team, shading parts of the giant pinned map they had on the wall. Smith gazed across the great table, like a sea of papers cast ahead of him, his eyes moved from report to report until they finally rested on Hange Zoe, who was just as distraught as he.

"A whole day's focus and we've gained nothing." Squad leader Mike spoke low out the window. His ominous tone interrupted by the french doors bursting open where Franklin-a real estate noble who allowed the squad to use his mansion as a base for their investigation. It was inside Wall Sina and was the most defendable point for the military, all the other base operations had been ransacked by hoods.

"You all look so grim... Jessie!" He bellowed in the room for his servant girl. He turned back to an off-putting glare by Captain Levi. "She's a lovely little thing who's been with me for years." Levi's glare remained. Franklin, shaken, moved clumsily through the room lighting lanterns, his belly throwing him off balance as he wasn't used to doing any work but he was desperate to get Levi's attention off of him. It was only successful when Jessie came in, and as usual when Franklin hosted guests, eyes fell to her: even Levi's. She was athletic but still had curves, which filled out her house uniform very well. Jessie brought her beautiful deep blue eyes up from the trolley she was pushing, those eyes contrasted so well against her soft black hair which was pulled back into a proper french braid. She flashed her beautifully white smile to the tired team, which was only enhanced by the her naturally slightly tanned skin.

"Tea anyone?" Her soft tone was answered with a scoff from Hange, directed at Levi. He shot back a gritting glare.

"Yes please, I'm awfully tired of these two love birds." Mike snapped, earning glares from both Levi and Hange. He moved to the trolley cart as Jessie slowly poured the hot tea into the elegant cup. "Jessie is it?"

"Yes sir." Jessie smiled back.

"Please, call me Mike." He leaned in but Jessie brought the tea up between them, allowing her to respectfully distance herself.

"Would you like some sugar, Mike?" She sounded almost teasing, confident even though she was a foot shorter than the well-built man.

"Yes please." He emphasized but was only met with 2 sugar cubes in his tea. Jessie moved back behind the trolley and began making her way around the table as the room began lightening up from the tea and Franklin's work.

"Jameson! Francis!" Franklin bellowed, wiping sweat from his face. A duo of serving men quickly appeared and began lighting the chandelier above the team, they moved with their eyes on their work. Jessie came next to Smith as the two passed by, the room stayed silent until their departure.

"Commander Smith?" Her sweet voice was heavy with innocence. He chuckled as his eyes were on Levi, whose eyes were back on Jessie.

"Enough of that. Petra would be mortified." Erwin teased back, Levi's angry glare returned and he cursed under his breath. He was observing, not-well...something was... significantly off, he noticed odd lines underneath her black blouse.

"I like blondes anyway..." Jessie whispered as she leaned in next to Smith, placing his cup on the papers. Smith's blue eyes shot open, earning him a laugh from his squad. However the laugh was short lived, as Jessie had frozen in place, her eyes wide on the papers before her. She looked up to see Smith's cold blue eyes on her.

"That... looks like recognition on your face." She slowly rose back up, bowing her head with embarrassment.

"Jessie used to live in the underground." Franklin interrupted the odd exchange. "My wife rescued the poor thing-"

"What do you know about them?" Erwin interrupted, grabbing the paper before him causing the tea to spill out.

"The Renegades?" He shot back up so he was a solid foot and a half taller than the slim girl.

"They worked near my old home... they're the black hooded ones." Jessie returned to the trolley and moved around the large man to Captain Levi. "I didn't see them much, they had just started up when I was graciously taken in by Mrs. Franklin..."

"She's a saint that woman." Franklin boasted. "Saw poor old Jessie singing and dancing on the path for food... she was only 12..."

"What else?" Erwin pressed.

"I... well I..." Jessie placed the teacup in front of Levi, trying to ignore his odd glares; she twisted it so the handle faced away from him. Levi's eyes watched her hand slip away, curious at how she knew that.

"I hear they help people... the Underground... a few of the street rats I knew joined. They operate on volunteers but your assessment of the main group is correct, they are tags."

"The hoods are volunteers?!" Hange practically yelled. "How the hell does that happen?" Jessie looked over to the board that was covered in papers and strings, a whole disarray of information. Mike came up behind her.

"We are tracking patterns of known movements... from the nobles and reported crimes. It seems... they can't move as well in Sina, their times slow significantly." His voice was sweet in her ear, trying to make her comfortable to speak. Levi noticed a slight shudder as she took a few steps to the large map.

"The reason isn't physical. There are plenty of weak points in the surrounding wall..." She trailed off.

"Where?" Smith commanded eagerly, excited for some progress. Jessie looked over her shoulder at the intimidating man.

"Well... I..." Jessie trailed off nervously.

"I know it's been awhile." Mike's comforting voice brought her gaze and visibly relaxed her; he laid a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Anything can help."

"I used to come up through a sewer grate on the far North side... there are definite small entry points in the area..." Jessie turned back to the map. "It's on the right of the main gate on Rutherford St." Mike came close and marked the approximate location with a pin. "I only went here because it's far off and out of the way... there wasn't any traffic in the area so it was easy to slip through. I know there are other places though I just... I never really went in," she turned her look to Levi now, his steel eyes were on her again. "It was too dangerous for someone like me."

"They're using other gangs." Levi's cold voice slipped through his matching stone lips and he rose to the map. "There's no other way they'd be able to strike in these areas." He came to the right of Jessie, and motioned to various areas. "These two are run by the Penny Mob and the Grizzlies." He turned and looked down at Jessie, his eyes 2 inches above hers, analyzing. "How could that work if they operate on volunteers?" He countered, questioning the information she gave but she stayed strong, holding an even colder gaze. There was... something about her eyes too, it looked like they slightly shifted off from center, a slight bump under her skin across the brink of her nose and the whites of her eyes weren't clear white but a very soft grey, storming.

"What do you mean?" Mike countered from behind Jessie, glaring back at Levi for questioning the girl's honesty. Jessie felt the tension grow and stepped out from between the two men, back to her simple trolley.

"How can a gang gather volunteers and work with fear mongers shithead." Levi answered coolly, raising his head up to meet the blonde's eyes. "Volunteers are not motivated by fear. That's how these guys work."

"Is that what you did?" Mike grit his teeth as the two came closer, ready to brawl.

"They don't." Jessie answered, getting the attention of the duo. She had moved the trolley back to the door, keeping herself busy. "They don't work that way, you know there _are_ other ways to be motivated." Jessie moved backwards to the window. "Captain, you grew up there too if I'm not mistaken?" She kept her eyes on the window. "What did you want... more than anything in the world when you were there?" Levi stood silent, staring at the beauteous servant girl surrounded by the falling sunlight.

"To get out." He answered smoothly, his eyes stayed on her as his mind raced at the realization.

"Well shit." Hange answered, beating the rest to the punch. "This is far more serious than we thought..." Jessie turned back to Hange.

"Nothing Scouts can't handle." Jessie smiled. "If you can kill Titans, you can kill some tags." She moved back to the trolley and pushed it out the door Mike was holding open for her.

"Ah wait." Mike stopped her, and pushed a lock of her black hair behind her ear. Levi saw muscle strain as she smiled to his touch.

"Thank you..." Jessie softly whispered, gazing into Mike's eyes.

"No... thank you." He flirted back as she left.

"Get your head out of your ass." Levi spat at him as he returned to his seat, he stared down at his cup of tea... still wondering if that movement was a coincidence or not.

"Pissed I finally stole some attention?" Mike chided back, slapping his hand on Levi's shoulder. Levi quickly pushed him back off.

"She is beautiful, I'd be willing to consider-" Franklin interrupted the two's exchange.

"Shut up." Levi commanded, but his anger wasn't at Franklin, his attention on his shoulder, a thin black streak came across his tan jacket. "Mike... what's on your hand?" Mike curiously sniffed and licked his hand.

"Grease?" he trailed off. Hange's eyes widened.

"The shadowed face!" Hange erupted with wild eyes and Levi shot up from his chair.

"Ahh" I plucked the blue films from my eyes, it always burned taking them out but they worked, darkening my golden irises and storm eyes all the way to deep blue and white. They hurt more than regularly from my long day in disguise. I threw them in the front hall, glad to be rid of this lavish place. I grabbed my old hood from closet and unraveled the gear proper I hid inside while stripping my wig off, 20 or so hairpins fell to the floor, pinging against the ground. I held the wig up to my face and brushed the grease all over like a towel, I brushed my hand through my pixie hair, it always got so itchy from this old damn thing. I pulled my hood over my head and dropped the wig at the foot of the main door and stepped out to the night air. I heard the chairs screech against the floor upstairs and smiled.

I slowly moved into the regular sunset traffic. The door flung open again and I looked back from a quarter mile down the road, wishing I could see Levi's face. I bet it was priceless. I'd never heard him frantic before, but damn I enjoyed it so much. I whistled and my black hoods deployed from the rooftops. King, Slade, and Axel landed on the steps of the house, blades drawn. The rest of the Scouts had appeared behind Levi now. I saw their hearts pump faster, and I knew they had no equipment or anything on them.

The citizens behind my team noticed the scene and started screaming and running off, the tension was thick between the Scouts and my team. Maddox broke out of the window from the third floor and landed gracefully next to Slade, just as planned. I saw white light I equated to flames start in the conference room, but they went unnoticed by the others due to my black hoods on the steps, ready to slaughter. The tension remained, the Scouts were silent as I turned down an alley, they were frozen, waiting for the blades to come. I whistled again and heard the 4 shoot their hooks, "FIRE!" a familiar scream of Franklin's came from the home, and I slipped into the shadows.

"Honey I'm home!" I playfully called as I opened the weak old wooden door to a scantily dressed young girl—it was the servant girl we took from Franklin's home a week ago. She turned to me in horror, revealing Noah's bare chest behind her. She quickly grabbed her things and ran out from the back room. "So, you're into girls now?" I moved into the old home and my team followed, laughing at poor Jessie.

"Don't you have a speech to give?" He gave his typical glare at the team as he stood and threw his shirt on, tying his long grey locks up.

"We thought we'd give you the good news in person." Maddox spoke smoothly as I moved into his workshop to grab my new gear and the team took to the couches. Noah followed me into Farlan's old room.

"Obviously it went well, it was my plan." I pulled my hood back to roll my eyes at him, wincing slightly at the candlelight. He came into the room and picked the small sticky off my lower right cheek and held it up to me. "Forgot something?" He shot me a big grin that came back to each of his big old ears. I pulled my hood back up and stuck my tongue out at my big brother. He smudged the grease to hide my beauty mark in my familiar shadow and I turned from him to rip off the faux skin laid across my eyes.

"I'm not going to miss all those disguises... the white wig always freaked me out." I rose to my feet and began strapping myself into my metal armor gear.

"So... how was it?"

"Typical. Perverted dogs that went running with their tails between their legs." I shrugged off his real question.

"Fury." I sighed at his tone.

"I don't know he was..." I looked up to Noah. "He's the same bastard he's always been." I refocused on my belts.

"Yeah I know. So Kenny agreed?" Noah shrugged off my comment, but he shouldn't have brought it up. He knew how I felt. He adjusted my back strap under my hood as I grabbed a new gear proper and handed it to him. I spun around as he begun the attachments.

"Yeah. So you ready for the next heist? It's been awhile since you've been out of the house..." He scoffed at my concern, we had this conversation multiple times.

"You think I'm just some charismatic genius who can't handle himself."

"I'll admit, I was wrong about you." I glanced over my shoulder at him. "I thought you were gay or whatever..." he smiled at my tease.

"I'm enjoying myself. Something you desperately need." Now it was my turn to laugh. "There you're all set." I turned to him.

"You better be getting home though, they'll worry."

"I am home, now stop worrying about me and get out there and _inspire_ the _masses_."

I landed smoothly on the cobblestone amongst the candle lit square as King finished his part, breaking down the week's activity and our hauls. I felt his attention turn to me, like a familiarly course hand brushing my cheek and he began my lavishly dirty introduction Noah prepared. I would've groaned if I could but I knew this old, run down square well and felt the electricity of the dirty faces and shrouded heads staring down at me, I remained as silent as they and merely hid under my hood. I hated the eyes, staring at the monster I was in a freakish mix of adoration and terror. The crowd parted easily before me, giving me a narrow pathway to a box set up next to the other 4 Renegades. I stepped up on my impromptu stage and took a gaze around the dimly lit amphitheater, I could barely make out the structures with the lack of light because of all the people. I could hear them breathing, chattering, and I could see their soft lights. I cleared my throat with a nervous tickle on my chest.

"Thank you all for showing your support and, to my shrouded members, we welcome you." I opened my arms, motioning to the rest of my team. "For any new rebels, you may call me Furiosa, I work under King himself, together we are the Renegades. I'm pleased to have you, but before you shed blood for the Underground, I want to clarify our rules. Joining is completely voluntary, we always have work for you, and you are free to leave whenever you please. If you can obtain a military jacket, of any branch, you can join. This is completely honor based, and I assure you-cheating is not worth it. We work in various independent teams, and like how we survive every day here... we work the same way. We fight for ourselves and our families, we fight to live for another second, another day, another week. Our teams become our families, and how you work is up to your family. I will not guarantee, or advise, that any hood will come back for you if you cannot hold your own ground." I paused for effect and gazed around the square.

"Once accepted, you pick your teams, you name your team and report back to us. From then on, you will be referred to as that team. Within your team, name yourselves what you want but you stay hooded every second thereafter. Anonymity is our strength. All of our goods go back to the people of the Underground. I promise you, your needs will be met, but anyone found stealing or hoarding will be executed. I promise you that anyone who fucks with you or your family will be executed. I promise you that as long as we all fight together, our families will be taken care of. And I _GUARANTEE_ you will have your chance of revenge. It's up to you to take it. Any questions?" I looked up and down the crowd around me then up to the windows of the broken buildings surrounding me, imitating true sight.

"Good. Now. The rumors are in fact true. Our reputation has spread to the King, it seems even the MP do not want to confront any Underground citizens found on the surface." The square erupted in applause and I let them bask in their accomplishment as it was well deserved. After a moment I raised my hand, silence soon returned. "This has been earned on the backs of our hoods and on each and every one of the Underground citizens. All of the blood, sweat, and tears from the past decade have paid off... but we did not _BLEED_...we did not _DIE_... we did not _KILL_ for only _FEAR_ now DID WE!?" An overwhelming amount of agreeing cries and whoops answered me. "DID WE COME THIS FAR TO HAVE THEM FEAR THE SHADOWS?!" Yells of No's erupted in the air. "TELL ME. WHAT DID YOU DO THIS FOR?!" They were excited and screaming now. "MAKE THEM HEAR YOU! MAKE THEM HEAR US!" The square was practically a riot scene. "WHAT DO YOU DO THIS FOR?!" I screamed again, playing the crowd. "I KNOW WHAT I DID THIS FOR. I KNOW WHO I DID THIS FOR. HER NAME WAS ISABEL! I AM HER REDEMPTION!"

Screams came from the crowd now, each person was yelling their lost ones names and their causes. I stood there with my team and together we listened, taking in each and every lost name, each and every reason. It felt like millions had been lost to the damn surface-the military, the Titans... everything on the surface was out to get us, and why? We're the poor, the homeless, the weak, the criminals. We don't deserve life. The screams went on for 10 minutes before finally quieting to a mix of heavy breathing and weeping.

"The surface will not take from us anymore. Now... it is our time." I raised my open right hand high above my hood, the crowds followed, all looking up to the dark, rocky ceiling above us. "Believe in me. Believe in my team. Believe in yourselves. If you do, I promise you real results-real ground on the surface-within a year of today." I slowly brought it back to my heart and it landed on my chest as a fist. This was our only unanimous sign, the only thing that truly identified a hoodlum. The members of the crowd began beating their chests in sync, slowly the movement spread through the crowds... until it sounded like one giant heartbeat... My eyes began to well up as I felt each and every one of them course through my veins: their sadness, their hope, their tragedy, their determination... I felt the soul of the Underground.

 _I will not fail you..._


	2. Obey

Ch. 2: Obey

It was a grim sight; it had been for the past 3 months. Levi walked in to his old bedroom, now the secret nursery for her and moved slowly to the bathroom, catching the gaze of the nurse on duty. He left the door open, out of sight of her, and stripped his bloody, dirty clothes. He took his usual 3-minute wash and left the shower, a new pair of clothes waiting for him. He dressed in silence, once finished, he returned to the bedroom and loomed over the foot of her bed.

There she lay, a broken heap of what was once the most threatening criminal to the military. Pieces of metal fashioned around every part of her body, supporting her brittle bones, hopefully guiding them back to their proper places. She was much smaller than she once was-her body was resorting to eating her muscle for fuel now. He watched the old nurse continue to slowly soak the handkerchief in the honey-water and drip it down into her slightly agape mouth.

Levi's eyes came to her face and he winced back the pain, he turned, rolling his eyes in an attempt to hide his emotion from the nurse, but she knew all too well. She looked hollow now; the bruising still hadn't healed either but the worst part was the old scar across her eyes. The nurse stood and gathered her things slowly. She moved next to Levi and dared to put her frail hand on his shoulder, "She's…stronger than she looks." Levi turned to her, steel eyes cold and she immediately retracted her hand. "She's past the most dangerous time, she'll live." Her weak voice ceased, leaving the duo in silence—besides for the pitiful wheezing of the frail girl.

"It's not if." Levi finally spoke. "It's how." The nurse moved her head to the ground, finally understanding his sorrow. She left in silence, leaving Levi alone with her, as was custom. It was true; this girl survived more than Levi thought was physically possible, she was still breaking those limits with every wheeze.

Not only did she survive, she thrived, becoming the most-wanted _Queen_ of the Underground. Levi tried to push the thoughts of her like that out of his head; she wasn't that anymore, Levi would have none of that. She was still a child—or well… he turned back to her, she might have been frail and weak, a fraction of the size she once was, but she had grown. She must've been 16 now, but she looked much older. She was strong too, stronger than many of the grown men that faced her; Levi's eyes fell down once more at his memories… how he fought her…

How could Kaia be Fury? It just… it didn't make sense. She was so sweet, honest, righteous… she used to be so cute with her wise-ass attitude. How could she hurt—even kill for profit? How did she even learn how?! Levi taught her how to steal and self-defense but her moves were nothing like his, not to mention she was fucking blind the entire time.

 _Blind._

 _"Move!" Hange screamed as she pushed through the frenzied people, leading the makeshift gurney the entire way._

 _"Here!" King yelled next to her and they darted to the right together, leading the troop behind them down a shaking alley. The wooden boards began to slump, further and further, Levi painfully tightened his grip on the end of the bloody boards along with the tall dark one next to him—Slade. It was a rush as they pushed to an old cellar, which Maddox had thrown open, calling for them. Levi caught the other edge of the board as Slade vanished; he pushed the duo ahead of him forward—his focus on her only._

 _By the time he could think clearly again, they had placed her on the ground of the old basement, King stood, slicing the hand that reached into the cellar for them. Maddox was in the corner, shifting boxes and bricks for some exit of theirs, and Hange was next to Levi and Fury. He watched as she ripped off Levi's scout cloak laid across her body and the scene—the blood, soaking her twisted body. Hange moved her hood back gently in the chaotic scene, revealing a beaten pulp. She moved her hands over her eyelids and pulled them back, her curiosity teeming._

 _"Let's Go!" King pushed as Maddox had the exit cleared now. But the two Scouts stayed still, Levi staring into her golden pupil, the rest a storm-cloud grey. Hange's hand was swatted away by Maddox, who grabbed the head of the gurney as King lifted the back and carried her off, into the darkness. The ceiling began to rumble as light began infiltrating the end of the basement. Levi grabbed Hange and they followed into the hole. The Titan was ripping out the ceiling, desperately trying to find them._

 _Hange whispered to Levi as they entered the safety of the tunnel. "She's… completely blind…."_

The word took the breath right out of him again. He moved to her left side and sat in the nurse's chair. He gazed over her face once more, taking in the deep cut that flowed perfectly horizontally across her eyes, starting an inch from to the right of her eyes and coming all the way across, moving over her delicate eyelid, sliding thinly over the beginning to the bridge of her nose and growing thick once more as it flowed once more over her opposite eyelid until it finally thinned to nothing, ending another inch from her left eye. Levi imagined the pain; the healing it must have taken; the time... not to mention the injuries she sustained in the fall itself. There had to be someone, someone pretty damn amazing, who healed her—her nose was perfect, left with only the thin mark when the deep cut must have shattered the bone. Not to mention her eyelids, it's amazing they still worked properly, or that she still had them at all. They were entirely dark, overtaken by the deep brown scar but smooth, still alive and supporting her dark black eyelashes.

Levi sat here, every night for three months, and stared at her for hours until he passed out in the same chair. It seemed no matter how much he looked at her, he found a new scar… her body was covered from newer, still notable ones to the oldest scratches that still existed as slight lines. _What had her life become…no—What had I turned her life into?_ He felt the hard, hot lump build up in his throat, his face started to sweat slightly, as it had every night. Farlan came to his side first tonight, leaning on the bed next to him. Levi tried to keep his face forward, focusing on her as warm blood pooled around his feet.

" _Gosh where does the time go?"_ Farlan spoke easily, even though he was in half—his hips torn from his torso. _"She's so… grown up… beautiful as always."_

"Only 16." Levi forced through grit teeth.

" _It's been 5 years?!"_ Farlan sounded exasperated; he brushed a light brown lock out of his face. _"Remember when she first flew? Your old belts were so big on her, practically wrapped her up like a mummy to get them to fit! But, she had the biggest smile… flashing those big white teeth. She could barely balance once we attached the gear, but she didn't care… so thrilled that you finally let her try them on. She was so cute…"_

"I remember." Levi replied coolly, his black locks drifting down, shielding his eyes.

" _That's my lil' girl!"_ Levi gasped at her voice, she occasionally showed but each time it was worse. _Please… not tonight._

" _Stronger than even Big Bro! Who would've thunk!"_ Her eyes beamed with pride, resting on Farlan's shoulder.

"Stop…" Levi's voice faltered as he began to lose it.

" _Still hate the thought of us huh?"_ Farlan countered as he brought his left hand to Isabel's head. He cradled her head in the nook of his arm.

" _I thought you would've missed us… I thought you loved us Bro?"_

"I do… But you can't have her." Levi kept his eyes hidden.

" _We don't want her—"_

" _You're the reason she's here—"_

"Stop..." Levi whimpered.

" _You didn't even look for my little girl… you let her fall."_

" _You let Erwin use my brother. Is he next now? To lie broken, near death, for months on end?"_

" _We thought we could trust you. We thought you loved us—"_

" _How did this happen?"_

" _Why did this happen?"_

" _Who else are you going to get hurt?"_

" _Last time you left her blind, now what will happen to her?"_

" _Paralyzed maybe?"_

" _Brain dead?"_

" _A wasting body—"_

" _Or worse… she's fine and lives in a cage—"_

"ENOUGH." Levi whipped his head to the empty bedside, his heart pounding and heavy. He turned back, dropping his head into his hands, and let the tears flow as he realized they were right.

"She's going to be fine." Levi's head whipped up from the bed. "For fuck's sake have a _little_ faith." Noah's thin frame stood in the doorway; the candle had burned itself out now, the room illuminated by the moon only. His eyes went to Kaia, still wheezing but she looked peaceful now with the smooth, cool blue light reflecting off her white skin. The shadows suited her well.

"I know." Levi's strength returned to him as he rubbed his eyes. "It's what will happen…" This was his first conversation with Noah in months.

"She always pulls through. The rest will be up to you." He moved in, his chained feet sliding against the floor. "You're the only one who can now."

"Is that why you're here? Beg me to change your inevitable punishment? What the fuck were you thinking Noah?"

"I was thinking of my sister." He spoke confidently as he stopped at the other side of her bed. "And you. And humanity."

"You're a fucking crook, just like her."

"Cut the bullshit Lev. You know you supported them too… this whole system's fucked up." Levi sighed at his words.

"It works. We're all still alive."

"Is this what you call living?" Noah leaned in, gray locks falling before his golden eyes as he laid his chained wrists on the bed. "Forced to kill, endlessly in a state of fear, working and training every day to lose over and over… We live in a fucking cage Levi."

"What else is there? We're alive, and you're taken care of."

"There's her. Levi she's the key out of this fucking mess, don't you see it?"

"Hard to see that when she's a pile of bones in a bed."

"No." Noah shook his head in frustration. "It's more proof. She's _strong_ and I mean stronger than anyone before. A titan _crushed her in a fist_ and she didn't implode. This girl fell into an endless coal mine, blinded, and somehow still walks the earth. But she doesn't just walk; she _sprints, jumps,_ and _flies!_ How the hell does that happen? So yeah, when I finally found her, I decided to help her because nothing fucking stops this girl."

"I'm pretty sure she's stopped right now." Levi sarcastically replied. "Why didn't you tell me? I could've—"

"Screwed everything up. Plus, she hated you for leaving and you would've stopped her before she every really got started."

"I could've kept her from ending up in this bed."

"Maybe. But now you could keep her from the hellish punishment the MP have in mind. Make her a Scout."

"That's it, I knew I shouldn't have let Hange close to you. Are you out of your fucking mind?"

"It's her only way out of rotting in a soundless cell, or execution by the King. I know you don't want either of those, considering your still hiding her… Plus, she's a natural; she's already got Titans under her belt. Levi she saved 15,000 lives!" Levi tensed at the thought, but his mind began racing for another solution. "She'll be safer than she was…especially at your side." Levi's eyes widened and Noah knew he got him. "The only reason she's here now, alive, is because of you Levi. I know she'll be stubborn, as she always was but, I know she'll come around… she…knows how you felt…"

"She did?" Levi questioned, a small look of shock on his face.

"She _does."_ Noah corrected with his necessary lie, surprised his gut feeling was right after all these years.

"Well what about the other two? King and Maddox?" Noah smiled as Levi was now on board.

"Well Arthur and Demetri have their own talents, they'd make great soldiers as well. Demetri's a hell of a medic, and knows the ins and outs of the Underground like the back of his hand, and Arthur I mean Jesus Christ look at the guy! And he's not even done growing yet. He's the poster board boy alongside Fury for the Renegades too, imagine what we can do with that… with a new army to join the Scouts. We can replenish the ranks, make the Scouts a desirable, strong division."

"That's all well and good but how do we make them want that? How do we make them trustworthy soldiers? For shit's sake they've killed more MP than I care to count."

"Leave that to me. They trust me and I know they love Kaia. Plus, they're bound to be pretty pissed at the Titans now… the enemy of my enemy is my friend right?"

"Levi brought a hand to his throbbing head. "I hope your right." After a moment he raised his head back. "Now tell me everything."

I tapped the pads of my fingers against each other as my wrists rested 3 inches above the glorious table. My wrists were bound closely together in a new handcuff design which, I had to admit, was rather impressive: a solid chunk of metal collapsed over my seemingly frail wrists creating a perfect rectangle. The damn thing felt like 50 pounds, not including the chain that lead into the ground. The two pieces came together at the right side where a heavy duty lock had been placed, not like the standard ones used on the sewer grates to the city, Noah and I had been busting those things up since we were younglings. No doubt that was Levi's suggestion. I smirked at my own thought.

"Who the fuck do you think you are?" My eyes rose to the typical hate I received, but I couldn't put a face on it as the grand room was lined with guards, at least someone in this room finally spoke I had woken up nearly an hour ago. "Smiling like that... Do you even realize how fucked you are?" I giggled at the idea, only making the soldiers tense, I liked how they thought I was insane... But hey I probably am. I haven't had a dose of celebrer in god knows how long, I could feel it in my bones. I shot my eyes diagonally to the right, where I felt a small light quicken.

"Tell me... Lieutenant." Total guess. "How many of your friends have I killed?" I squinted my eyes, pretending I was examining his jacket rankings. He was shorter, his heart slightly stronger than the rest. "It seems like you should be thanking me, since you got a promotion out of it, kid." His entire body tensed up, I nailed it. He took a lunge to me but stopped as Levi had appeared from thin air before him. The air was tense as the lieutenant returned to his place in line. After what felt like 10 minutes, the rest of Commander Smith's team strolled into the room.

"Don't you just love his acts? I mean the appearance is great but trust me, the disappearing act will really blow your mind." Levi's glare came to me, I could always see him clearly ever since the accident, his signature was strong and bright. "Took me by surprise, I still don't know how you pulled that off!" I heard teeth grit at me with anger...at me? or himself?

"Shut the fuck up." He walked smoothly to my side, taking the chair next to me. He jostled a metal poll that tugged on my neck, I winced in pain from the odd movement.

"We want to strike a deal with you, Kaia." I glared up to the Commander, his team had taken seats in a line across from me, as if I was being interviewed for a job.

"That's not my fucking name." Levi elbowed my side, it erupted in a fire of pain. Well, I guess those are still broken, I winced back up to the Commander. "Furiosa." I held my ground as I waited for another smash to the side. Commander Smith raised his hand and shot a look to Levi. I've never felt so weak, my hair had grown significantly too, how long had it been?

"Alright, Furiosa." He leaned his massive forearms onto the table. "The only reason you're sitting here alive is because of you and your team's actions at Shiganshina." I was caught off guard, what the fuck was he talking about? I stayed silent, not knowing what to say as I racked my aching head for the memory. Levi leaned in to me and I winced away, a metal collar I hadn't noticed tugged me back to the chair and he adjusted the needle in my neck.

"Do you remember?" He spoke, close to my ear and I shivered, hating being this close to him.

"No." I shakily admitted, I really couldn't. "Where's Noah?" I instantly demanded.

"He's fine." Levi spoke quietly. "Worried about you."

"For now." Erwin corrected. "So you don't remember? Anything?"

I grimaced at the voice, the sight of his signature, his pulse... they were all disgusting to me. "How long have I been here..."

"7 months." My heart sank in shock. "You've been healing from the attack."

"What the fuck did you do to me?!" I turned to Levi, suddenly spitting with anger. "Where's my family?! What the fuck's going on?!" I began to panic.

"Not me. Titans." I sat back in my chair.

"That's impossible." Was all I could manage to say, but it began to make sense as I fought my impulses back and used my head like Maddox wanted. I had been fighting these soldiers for years, receiving simple wounds—cuts and scrapes mostly.

"Titans breached Shiganshina _and_ Wall Maria during your attack."

"You suffered significant damage in your ranks..." Hange began. "You lost a lot of hoods but their action, thanks to you, saved over 15,000 lives."

"I—what?" the words fell out of my mouth as I began to shake at hers.

"You saved thousands." Levi's hands fell cold on my back but I could give less of a shit.

"Where's my family..." I repeated, my eyes on the floor now. "My...hoods...What the fuck do you people want..."

"Axle and Slade didn't make it." I felt the knots of my stomach tighten and winced in pain. "King and Maddox are alive, awake and healing. Noah's completely healed." I stayed silent at the information, ...Vanessa... Ray... their families flashed through my mind... exactly how much blood was on my hands?

"We're offering you a deal." Erwin started again. "Fact of the matter is you're still a criminal. The MP are out looking for you, and in your current condition, you wouldn't last an hour. You're potential is unquestionable; I saw you fight for myself, you worked well with Levi. Instead of you rotting in a jail cell for the rest of your life, you, and your _family_ , can fight for us. We'll give you identities, and you become soldiers—Scouts." My horror turned to anger as I processed his words.

"Is that what you did?" I brought my glare to Levi. "Is that all it took for you three to leave?" I suddenly started laughing, if you could even call it that—more like a quick wheeze—only bringing myself more pain. "And I take it..." I looked around the room. "…that this is what you chose with your 'freedom'?" His face was darker than usual, I could feel his indifference at my comments, his shadow black hair fell over the steel eyes I remembered too well. "God you're a fucking piece of shit." This earned me a slight grit of his jaw, "There we go! The statue fucking lives everyone!" I began cackling out of control again.

"Enough." Levi's hand entwined itself in my long hair and he yanked my head back to him, just like he used to. My anger returned at the memory and I threw my arms at him to claw his throat out but—I— my arms barely inched from the table, as if I had no control over him. I tried to stand but metal clasps held me to the solid metal chair, everything felt so heavy on me, what the hell were these things made of? I could typically make metal stress at the very least.

"FUCK YOU!" I screamed in his face as I writhed in confusion, ripping my hair out from his grip. "Who the fuck do you think you are?!" He finally loosened his grip and I ripped my head away, I tried to refocus my anger.

"Answer." His voice was cool, my pathetic attempt of a fight didn't faze him at all.

"How stupid are you people?!" I kept my glare at Levi. "I can't trust you. No one can fucking trust you people, why do you think it was so easy for us to get people to work together against you?! You're all fucking awful!" I turned to Smith now. "My people... my army... everything they ever accomplished was done voluntarily. They have starved to bring food to their loved ones, their families... They are who we fight for, not ourselves. We fight simply because we can, we are able. We fight for our loved ones, so they can have one more second, one more minute, one more day... Commander, we have fought for the past decade to live just one more day, for my people to live just one more day." I paused trying to keep my voice from cracking, the words dripped with poison. "You... you... forgot all of us... abused us..." I was breathing heavy now, my heart pounding. "Burn in Hell." I finished, my face felt like it was on fire.

"Fine. Rot." Erwin stood, the others reluctantly went with him.

"No." Levi answered next to me. I turned to him. "She'll be a Scout."

"No. I. Won't." I answered, my anger on him again. He stood at my disobedience and stood before me, he was... taller than I remember.

"Yes, you will." His voice was ice cold.

"Are you fucking deaf?" I shouted but he remained unfazed. He bent over and leaned into my glare, I tried to hold my own as I felt his black hair hit my forehead, the smell of the soft lochs brought memories that made my stomach twist along with my face.

"I will not let you ruin Noah's life you fucking ass. You either do this willingly or as my fucking dog."

"Who the fuck do you think you are?! I—" but I couldn't finish as a hand clasped around my mouth and nose, tightening and cutting off my air. I struggled against his grasp but it only tightened, I thought he would break my teeth. His other hand went in my hair, yanking my head backwards and my eyes wide open to the burning light. I struggled, writhed as hard as I could against his grip but it was useless, I was too weak but my will was still strong. I began convulsing, my lungs burning for air. Levi's hand left my hair and went to my neck, grabbing the thin object I felt piercing in my neck.

"Do you know what this is? It's your only blood supply, you lost so much in the fight... you can't live on your own." He tore out the needle and I screamed from the pain, my body began to get wetter and wetter from my warm blood, each pump of my heart made myself weaker. "Do it." I opened my eyes to him, blood trickling down from my cheeks and began chuckling under his hand before I blacked out.

I awoke again, this time chained heavily to a bed. It took me a few moments to support myself up in bed, my head felt cold and ridiculously heavy... everything was black and silent... something of a nightmare—an all too familiar nightmare.

"Hello?" I called, but couldn't even hear myself. "HELLO!?" I screamed louder but nothing, I couldn't hear myself. I started to panic, what the fuck did he do to me?! "HEY! ANYONE?! HELLO?!"

 _Holy shit... holy shit... I'm alone_. I'd never felt blind, even when I realized I was, I could always hear and see in my own way, but now... nothing. I tried to pull my legs to my chest, a position that always comforted me but they didn't budge. I became frantic, pulling and heaving all my strength against the chains but I couldn't, I felt so weak again... I quickly tired myself out and laid out, my heart pumping, sucking blood in from the tube in my neck. That's when my memory returned; my hoods, Axel and Slade... what have I done?

.

.

.

A warm hand landed atop mine and I jostled backwards in my limited range of movement, not knowing how long it'd been: a minute in this world felt like an eternity. I relaxed as the touch was warm, welcoming. The hand lifted and the pad of a pointer began tracing on the back of my hand...

N...O...A...

I almost cried at the realization. "Noah! I-I can't hear or see or-" But his hand stayed still against mine, a bad sign. He already knew, probably everything—as always. I gulped. "Noah... what should I do..." The hand moved again.

S...C...O...

"No. How could you say that?!" The hand fell quiet, I needed to expect short answers. "... I take it this is what my life will be like in prison?"

Y...E...S…

"I don't want you to die... not like them... it still haunts me Noah I won't let it-"

I... W...O...N...T...

"Noah..." The tears started again, burning the raw skin between my eyes and whatever this metal head was. "Levi lost then... I'm... I've never matched..."

Y...E...S...U...D...O

"I can't take that risk. I won't."

P...L...E...A...S...E

I stayed silent, not knowing where to turn from here.

.

.

.

I...D...O...N...T

.

.

W...A...N...T...U

.

.

L...I...K...E

.

.

.

T...H...I...S

"Noah..." I winced at my own fate, but I remembered Isabel's head, Farlan's torso... then King and his hollowed glare that pierced whatever heart I had left.

S...A...F...E...R

.

.

.

W...I...T...H

.

.

.

Y...O...U

I gulped down the lump in my throat... I'd rather be the one next to him than Levi. "...I'll... ask King." I weakly replied and suddenly he came over me, hugging me. I gasped in pain from the movement. Before I knew it, the metal around my head began to lift and the world came back to life. I saw the familiar outline of Noah, his grey locks tickled my face. I smiled as he moved his hands to my face, gently taking away the tears against my raw cheekbones. Feet moved around the bed, and one by one my limbs came free of the metal. I went to sit up, to hug Noah but I lost my breath quickly and fell back to the bed. "What happened?" I muttered. Noah sat at the edge of my bed and sighed.

"It was all my fault..."


	3. The Ties that Bind Us

Captain Levi… Nicolas grit his teeth at the sight of him, leaning over her as he did every night. A breeze rustled through his suit jacket, his black hair shifted in the chill but her breathing—her wheezing, stayed loud, the only sound in his entire world. It cut to the bone and that's where he truly felt the cold. The air shifted behind him and a familiar hand landed on his back but he didn't turn, he didn't dare. Worick walked around his side after a moment and stayed silent, leaving Nic to read as he watched the scene unfold across the rooftops.

"—the enemy of my enemy is my friend, right?" Nicolas grunted at the remark, gaining Worick's attention.

"What's the deal?" His big white hands moved with each word.

"You're not going to like it." Nicolas signed right back.

"We shouldn't be doing this Erwin." Mike spoke ominously as he leaned on the edge of his leather seat. "That girl isn't a girl…she's a monster and that's how you need to view her." He brought his blonde lochs up to meet his Commander's but failed as he was still turned to the window, his build casting a large shadow across the room as the sun began to fall. There the determined Commander of the Scouts stood, contemplating the drastic path Hange and Levi convinced him of. The severity of her crimes matched the severity of his punishment if this already shaky plan didn't come to fruition. "Erwin." Mike repeated.

"They sent them back." Smith answered, remembering his own reasoning for this mood. "Every life they saved, she saved, and they chose to send them back… Do you think anyone of the underground has ever had a steady food source? Mike there was no real discussion over rationing."

"I understand Erwin but—"

"I spent days with Hange planning, Mike. Days coming up with a system to ration the food and…" he trailed off, shaking his head in disbelief. "This system is fucked and with our current situation… it's only a matter of time." His head fell low at the thought. "I need a backup."

"She can't be that plan?!" Mike erupted in shock. "Erwin she isn't good, she doesn't care. She's a fucking Renegade, the craziest of the crazy. Levi's blind to it from his own guilt and her relationship with Noah. Hange has always been crazy about him and they're both in your ears. They're too close to her and she's not—"

"You're scared." Erwin twisted to face Mike and the rest of his office. "Because of your history with her." Mike fell silent and eased back in the chair.

"There is no relationship, I made a mistake. Years ago." Mike stressed. "I created this issue and…I'm so sorry." He whispered to his old friend.

"If you hadn't, there'd just be another tag to take her place right? Plus…" Erwin walked to him, placing a soft hand on his back. "We wouldn't have been there. She wouldn't have been there. But I accept your apology anyway."

"Do you think that tag would have been as worse as her?" Mike stared off into the shadows of the office.

"Honestly?" Mike craned his neck back to see his piercing blue eyes. "Not a chance in hell, you really screwed me with this one." Mike mirrored Erwin's smile and laugh as he reached up and placed his hand over Erwin's. They stayed together in the silent failing light.

"Just…remember what she is." Mike lowered his eyes, his head turned sideways to Erwin. "She's not salvageable Erwin… I'm not even convinced she's alive…we looked for weeks—"

"I remember." Erwin interrupted, pulling his hand slowly back from his touch. "I was there." The memory made his face and stomach sour, it was a memory the three had buried long ago but here it was, crawling out of that deep grave in its new form, a skeleton with storming eyes and a crazy cackle that cut you to the core.

"How did you know about Noah?" The question had been pestering Mike for some time, was it the mystery he couldn't figure out or his Commander's silence on the matter? He always told him the plan and that day… "You scared the shit out of me." He whispered to the darkness that surrounded the two.

"He scared all of us." Hange's voice broke their silence as the two whipped their heads to the open doorway. "Sorry to interrupt but we have a problem. Arthur and Demetrius have broken out of containment, assisted by two unknowns, at 5:30 this morning. Currently still at large."

"Fuck." Mike answered.

"My thoughts exactly." Erwin replied, formal as always. "What's Fury's status?"

"She's somewhat stable, alert but basically pissed off since the meeting and her imprisonment in your special cage. It seems her drive is slowing. Still a long way from being mobile and without King I'm not sure how we're going to get her to cooperate. I'd say primary concern is keeping her alive, in our custody, and clean from whatever drugs they've pumped into her."

"We need to up our security for King's impending attempt. What drugs?" Mike questioned.

"Now that she's stable I've been able to do a detailed assessment when she slept." Hange moved to the main desk Erwin drifted behind. "She's covered in these horribly deep scars, from what Levi told me I assume all of those are from her fall… but there's more. Underneath the bruising, there are multiple small puncture scars, located in each joint and going down her spine as well."

"What does it mean?" Erwin kept his eyes on her papers.

"She had a doctor, a skilled one at that. Her bones were cracked in multiple places, which I didn't think would make sense because under the pressure of that Titan hand, the bone would crack in one place instead of—" Hange noticed Erwin's glazed over look he always had when she went too far "well I outlined the stick experiments in the report; basically, nearly all of her major supporting bones had been broken before, they re-cracked under the pressure. For her to be able to move the way she does and live the way she has after that, there had to be a doctor setting her bones and these puncture marks are in a specific order. Considering her past I assume it's some liquid form of celebrer, the tag drug because she's ranked an S/3, but no normal has ever been able to handle that drug, especially for this long. Her tag is practically blank, with only her rank, nickname and affiliation. And she must take large doses, to have that endurance and get out of that Titan's mouth after that serious injury? Essentially, we need to find that doctor. Without that knowledge I don't know what I'm dealing with. All of this could be a complete bullshit assessment, because I'm going off of Levi's account of who she is but that's shaky too." She took a deep breath from her lengthy elaboration. "If it's celebrer…she's nowhere near stable because her withdrawal, whenever it hits, it's going to be bad, really bad. And with the amounts she's had to have as a norm—if she's a norm…" Hange paused, trying to form the rest professionally but it came out as her simple truth "I don't know how I'll keep her alive."

"Dirty fucking soldiers." King muttered as he rubbed the raw skin around his wrists. "I told you it was stupid."

"Fuck off, she's alive right? We've lost enough." Maddox quickly replied as he finished wiping the blood from his hands with his rag of a shirt.

"Gentlemen can we please get down to business?" Worick pulled at the skintight mask off, letting his long blonde hair fall back down over his shoulders. "I believe we have some similar desires." He smirked as the recognition splashed across Maddox's thin face.

"Worick Arcangelo!" He came up to him arms open to hug his old childhood friend. "Never would've thought you'd be in a sewer somewhere. Where the hell have you been the past two decades?" They quickly embraced, Maddox's spiky, light purple hair contrasting against his blonde. "I haven't seen you since…" His voice wavered as he recognized the special clinks of Nicolas's tags. He took a step back, remembering the deaf soldier clearly as the infamously short killer slid through the sewer grate to meet them.

King came up behind Maddox, his coal-black eyes silencing Maddox's worried green ones. "Who the fuck are you two and what do you want?" After a tense and brief glare down between the 6' 5" linebacker and the 5' 8" statue, Worick jumped in, eagerly shaking King's hand with both of his.

"Worick Arcangelo. Huge fan of your work sir, this is my brother, Nicolas Brown. He's deaf so—"

"I 'eard 'im." Nicolas threateningly grunted in his raspy voice, causing King's thick face to sour, twisting his two scars across his right cheekbone.

"Yes well!" Maddox chimed in, in an attempt to diffuse the bomb that was King. "We do owe you, we're in no state to refuse help." He glared back at King, emphasizing his message.

"Yes!" Worick stepped in front of Nico to cut off his side of the tension. "We are Benriya, guns for hire. Please, it's concerning Fury." Her name softened King's expression immediately; widened Maddox's eyes, and he felt Nico's exhale. Boots clinked against the road above them and they all reflexed up at the soldiers' passing shouts. King nudged Maddox with his arm who responded with a long, blank stare at Worick.

"We can trust Worick. He convinced his family to hire me when I was still Demetrius, today's the day I finally pay that debt back." Maddox finally responded with a glinting smirk to match his light green eyes.

"It's a start for all the favors you owe me, including this one." Worick chimed back trying to keep the mood light.

"Why do you care?" King interrupted the duo's exchanges, his eyes lingered on Nicolas. "How do you know her?" Maddox stiffened at this remark, earning him a glare from King. Within a second his bear paw was around Maddox's lean throat and the 6 foot man was pressed up to the wall behind him, Worick laid in the stream of shit next to Nicolas, eyes on the impressively agile giant. "I told you!" The veins in his throat popped from stress. "That fucking kid was enough of a distraction. How do they know her?!" He began shouting, his bellows echoing down the sewers. Nicolas jumped up, ready to grab his sword but Maddox saw and raised his hand to him. Worick placed a hand over Nicolas chest trust him, he mouthed.

"Old friends." Maddox choked out with a calm look in his eyes. "Before you." His paw released its grip and Maddox gripped his throat but continued, bowing slightly before the man. "It was before you found her that night. Fury used to work with these two, she has no memory of it."

"You're sure of it?" King relaxed at this, reaffirmed of his last friend's loyalty.

"Positive sir. Fury only slightly remembers her old family, and that's because of Noah's prevalence and her hatred for that Captain. Noah is therefore her only living weakness to you sir. Outside of us, she cares only for him."

"So what is it you're hoping to accomplish twilight?" The word fell sickly out of his mouth as he twisted back to him. "Stay the fuck away from my Fury."

"Nothing of the sort sir!" Worick called. "We'd like to strike a deal. We're mercenaries, we have no interest in that." His words directly juxtaposed with Nicolas's face. "You want her back right? We have a way to make that happen. We get her back, you put us on the ticket for the new world." King smiled at this and turned to Maddox.

Maddox smiled back. "Well… we are hiring."

7 Months Earlier.

Fury strolled down the Main Street of the lightest area of the underground, Chlorba, where the surface ground was the weakest where only mere strips of the cavern ceiling, supported by the old mine shaft scaffolding, remained. Her new nightmare tags clinked with sinister cheers against her chest, now outlined with a matching nightmare hood, which hid her scarred eyes perfectly behind the intricate pattern of thin metal and strong thread. The crowds parted before her easily and with no complaint, as she was unmistakable in the bright daylight: the black knight of King's creation none dared defy. Citizens looked on in an odd mix of fear and confidence of their King's soldier, but what could bring her presence? Typically, the only Renegade to enter this city was Axel, as it was his hometown.

Fury stopped short, and took their breathes with her. She cocked her head down an alleyway and subsequently waved two fingers hidden by her new, bulky forearm armor to a child, paralyzed in front of her. The child quickly slid to the side, along with the rest of the bystanders. Fury's torso slowly straightened to the angle of her head as her nose slightly twitched and the crowds of Main Street shifted behind her in anxiety.

Beams of light danced across her body as she crept to the mouth of the alley. The new hood glinted beautifully, the razor thin metal shining throughout the supple cloth that held her thin curves tightly. The same metal was crafted around her hips, creating a miniature version of 3DMG the military used but hers had no blades so the bulkiness was eliminated along with the off-putting triggers, which were fastened through special hand-made sheaths that usually adorned her arms and led the wires to her palms, functioning for her gear and as thin armor but today it was different. She wore a black plate on her back that wrapped around her front, shielding her torso while also hiding various blades and the small, thin gas containers underneath, but there were thick metal chunks underneath her forearms now. She was typically seen barefoot with long, loose pants. This was replaced with a tighter pair of black jeans suited to her long legs with a matching metallic sheen to go with her nightmare hood. Wraps of silver covered her feet and palms, each finger of her right hand remained free of cover with heavy silver rings at their core-the only known controls for her gear. The left hand was now covered in a shining, black metal that reached all the way to her fingertips, creating sharp claws at the end that completed her uniform as the finished piece. The only recognizable aspect of this tag was the short, black hairs that escaped the shadow of her hood. When the sunlight hit them they beamed a golden brown for a mere second revealing the only known characteristic of this girl.

"You. Your kind isn't welcome here." A smooth voice came from the metallic knight, addressed to the night of the alleyway. After a moment of tension, two familiar ticks of tags echoed out from the alley. With that challenge, the citizens began shifting quickly and quietly for cover but with a view. Footfalls the sound of an 8 meter began, coming closer and closer until the fine light of sunlight cut over Brock "the rock's" rotten yellow teeth.

"Little girlie..." a deep yet childish groaning emerged from his wet lips. "Let's see the rest of that pretty face." His voice quivered with inflection as the rest of his tree trunk body was shown, with a B/2 rusted tag glinting on his greasy yellow tank top that was suffocating his folds of fat.

"Is that our special guest?" The dwarf appeared, standing tall on his hump of a shoulder. "The young blood herself!" His words fell heavy with fake astonishment.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing out here anchovy?" He stiffened with anger at the name, it practically dug itself under his skin.

"Business the four fathers support, so watch your damn mouth child!"

"You stand 7 feet tall on a 6 foot stack of lard and call me the child?" Fury teased again, this time the lard himself chuckled which was met with a swift smack to the back of the large lump that sat between his shoulders. "This is King's land. The fathers have no influence here." She took another step forward, shifting the light across the tip of her nose to cover half of her lips.

"Now you wouldn't want the guild involved. I'm a contractor remember?" Anchovy had a slight tweak in his voice.

"Yes but that was never my choice." She took another step. "It was yours when you came here. I can smell your fish odor for miles and I don't like it. It bothers me..." She took another step as she unsheathed a carving knife from under her hood sleeve "and I'm a very busy girl. With a lot of work to do for these good people you're feeding off of..." The knife was horizontal between the tips of each pointer finger now, she rotated it freely "so..." She stopped with the knife now.

"You know Brock's got too much fat for you to actually hit anything vital and his strength is far worse than any Titan. So I guess we'll take our leave. Give the King my regards..."

"Fishy!" Brock repeated with a smile before Anchovy pulled backwards on his hair to bring him back to the sewers. "I want to play girlie!" He called with angst as he fought the pull.

"Shut your mouth! Stop pulling out your tags! We need to tell Sams-" but Anchovy was cut off as he flew backwards, a hook pierced through his meaty thigh. He slammed back down into the lit street and grabbed at the open wound as he screamed. He raised his head for Brock but there was nothing left to call for, Furiosa overshadowed the sprawled out dwarf, cleaning a switch-blade dagger that erupted from her right forearm.

"I- I'm a norm! You can't-" but her metal heel answered, cracking the dwarf's sternum. He tumbled to his belly coughing with blood spilling from his mouth. He turned his head to see her ankles as she walked toward him, but found something far more interesting: Brock's parts dangling around the Main Street as if he had imploded. "I—wait! I can take a—message back to—" A sickening crunch signaled the end of his plea.

"You didn't need to send that message. We could've had more fun!" Slade called from the rooftop above Fury, a slight pant to her voice. Blood red hair dangled down from her tanned skin with manic red eyes to match, she smiled with her full set of sharp white teeth—her most prized possession. She wore a basic outfit next to Fury, a simple tight black t-shirt with tight brown cargo jeans and a pair of silver A/4 tags. Straps of various explosive material crossed around her torso, each holding 12 utility pouches, her cargo jeans held many more surprises. Big utility boots clanked down next to her and Axel himself leaned out to the scene.

"You should've gotten here sooner then." Fury called up with a smile. She raised her left claw and pulled a new trigger, firing a hook to the chimney next to them, and flew up to the duo. The young blood walked between the two older tags, her head falling a few inches below Slade and a foot under Axel.

"Fury." Axel called her attention. "Never show your face in my town again." He spoke clearly as he brought his burned face back to Fury, his smooth, long brown hair covering the flaking, irritated skin, a solo green eye piercing back. His look was stern as he pulled his tattered, grey hood up over his head. He jumped down, his loose white t-shirt shifted exposing his burned stomach for a moment until he landed, his blue jeans stretched as his bare feet touched down, his A/3 tags clinked together. This was the first moment Fury recognized the scene— the citizens were frantic, some had passed out others had vomited, it was truly disgusting. They were terrified and frantic…no wonder the normally sweet kid had become so cold.

"Ignore it, he worries too much. I'll take care of this. Noah's been looking for you." Slade advised as she jumped down to meet her boyfriend. Fury didn't say a word as she turned her back on the same scene she caused many times before. Ignore it. She repeated as she shot her hooks out and kept moving.

It was night by the time she made it back home. She landed softly at the tip of the chimney and took the simple step down, rushing through the familiar chasm and rolled out at just the right time to Noah's feet. He shoved his joker coin, which he was balancing between each finger as he always did, into his pocket.

"I thought I heard footsteps." Noah chuckled as he held out his hand, which Fury playfully pushed aside.

"What are you doing here so late again? What's going on?" Fury replied in a slight rush.

"Relax. I just wanted to see how the new uniform worked out." Noah squatted down to her and began investigating the forearm daggers and personalized claw he crafted for her.

"It's tighter than what I'm used to…" Fury trailed off causing Noah to smile.

"What? Embarrassed to show you're actually a girl?" Fury smirked at his taunt. "You looked like a mess in that other outfit." He reached for a loch of her blackened hair that fell sweetly to her chin. "I still can't believe you chopped it all off, you should at least stop putting that grease on it, it's such a pretty color."

"Not happening." She gently brushed his hand away. "King likes it dark so it's harder to see." Fury felt Noah tense at his name.

"How would you want it?" Noah whispered after a moment, Fury's head turned to him, her smudged nose and chin, the only shown aspect of her face, twisted showing she was slightly confused at the remark.

"What do you mean?" Noah sighed.

"Nevermind." He quickly turned his attention back to the devices. He gently took off the claw he fashioned, next came the forearms. He carried them to the back of the large wooden shop, decorated with countless devices of every size and a special forgery, and laid them across a small clearing of a wooden table. Fury followed him and posted herself up on a wooden post next to him, tracing the scars of her right forearm. "These are disgusting Fury…" Noah's voice was heavy with disappointment, reminding Fury of Axel; she shrugged her shoulders up and crossed her arms.

"It's comes with the job." She muttered.

"You seem to enjoy it." Noah responded as he pulled god knows what from the dislodged grappling hook.

"I—" Fury started but didn't know how to finish. "I don't." She chose the answer she knew was right. Noah placed the claw device back down.

"You're a shitty liar." He spoke calmly.

"Only to you. Look your doing so well with the blood this time!" Fury tried to tease and lighten the mood but it fell flat, she sighed at Noah's indifference. "There were tags in Axel's district. I had to send a message."

"So this is your message?" Noah held up a goopy strand of pink and red and dry heaved as he threw it away.

"Yes. That's King's land, they knew that."

"Stop saying that freak's name." Noah snapped. "Don't you see how—"

"He's not a freak." Fury quickly responded. "Show some fucking respect."

"Respect?!" Noah exasperated. "Look at what your doing Kai—"

"Don't." Fury warned. "Don't start with that shit again. He saved my life."

"Some savior."

"Like yours is a fucking saint." Fury pushed off the post and quickly grabbed the right

brace.

"He's not—ugh." Noah started the same old argument. "He's trying. If you could just

see..." Fury's lip quivered with anger, quickly showing a glimpse of her beauty mark

among her black smudged face.

"Fuck you." She managed, keeping her impulses in check. "He's the reason I can't—

Let's go. Now." She quickly gave up the same old argument as well.

The night was unusually cold, a kind of cold that cut through your flesh and bones right

to the core no matter how much clothing you could muster. Noah's joints were

unbearably stiff by the time he entered Trost. The guards at this hour were passed out

drunk, Noah rolled his eyes Garrison troops. He pushed his needless fake papers back

into his deep black trench coat and shrugged his shoulders up so his long lochs would

cover his neck as a scarf, all to brace for the cold that would meet him on the other side.

He kept on his brisk walk, his footsteps echoed sharply against the stone street, traveling

through the dark, emptied streets. "Fury…" Noah whispered to the night. A small black

head popped out above the rooftops, only distinguishable against the starry night sky.

Noah smirked at his beautifully hidden sister. "I didn't mean to hurt you." A slight scoff

responded, the same one she had always called out in her tough defense. "I only want the

best for you, for us." He emphasized. "You know how I worry…"

"I know." Noah would've jumped at the sudden whisper that came loud in his ear if he

didn't know her tricks. He glanced over his right shoulder for a moment, seeing nothing

but the normal shadows. He smirked and turned back to the road ahead of him. "I have a

debt to him, a debt I will gladly pay. The risk is minimal Noah; this is me we're talking

about. Stop worrying about that and think about the reward." Her voice came whispering

from the far left now, Noah kept his course, speaking easily with the voice that might

have well been in his head.

"It's hard to think about this reward when the risk is constantly present and continuing to

grow. Plus, the risk is you." Noah threw the word right back at her.

"You're so pessimistic. Especially for someone in your place."

"And what's that supposed to mean?"

"You know exactly what that means. You are the benefactor in every possible outcome. You have me, Levi, the Scouts, your business… if anything ever went wrong, it wouldn't go wrong for you. There's always a positive outcome for you."

"I've put myself in this position for us Fury. You keep doing your part of the promise and I'll do mine. We stay our course, and there's truly—"

"Nothing to be afraid of." Fury finished with a clear smile against the dark of the night. Noah wrapped his arms around the small figure that appeared from thin air next to him, catching her in a sweet embrace. The easy laughs of the two cascaded down the alleyways, attracting all the wrong attention. Fury's head twitched away from Noah's chest, pounding steps came from afar that slowly softened. Before Noah could tell, the figure seemed to evaporate; he was left staring at the palms of his gloves.

"What do we have here?" A dark voice he didn't recognize started from afar. He whipped his head down the road to three large men, one with moonlit tags dangling from his chest. Fuck. Rogues. This wasn't Noah's first encounter, Trost was home to most of the wanted tags, those who refused or broke the rules of the Guild. Noah immediately tossed his hands even with his head.

"Please, let's keep this civil." Noah warned. "I'd rather not fight tonight."

"Good." A voice grumbled, the one to the right of the tag. "Let's make it quick." The meaty hand of the center tag slapped across his face, silencing him immediately.

"Who the fuck does this guy think he is? Telling us how it's going to be?" In a flash he was a few feet from Noah, blocking out the light of the moon.

"Don't. Please—" Noah begged in a whisper to the shadows as a hand whipped him up by his feet, all of his trinkets and belongings fell from his pockets, memories from his school days popped into his mind. A grumbling came from behind the tag; he craned his neck around and immediately dropped Noah at what he saw. The blood sparkled in the moonlight as it drained furiously down each crack and crevice of the stones before him. The intestines sparkled with a clearly moist texture as they spilled out, now freed from their imprisonment in his abdomen. A sickening rip replaced the remaining main's gurgling throat and the body fell limp from her hand, with an equally sickening thud. Her claw sparkled a nightmare of black and red in the moonlight as she craned her hood to the remaining tag.

"Furi—" The man began to declare in surprise but was cut off by a kick to his abdomen, that sent him flying to the right.

"Stop! Don't!" Noah called up to his sister but it wasn't her anymore, this was Fury. He closed his eyes and covered his ears at the site he knew was coming. The next thing he knew he was being carried, slung over her shoulders as she began to fly to the rooftops above. He opened his eyes to the scene below, lamps had been lit and more slowly started to burn at the commotion.

"Ignore it." Fury's whisper invaded his head but it was too late. There was a pond in the middle of the street, a thick, viscous pond that was growing bigger from three steady streams. The black liquid became ever more red with the increasing lights and Noah's body fell limp at the realization of what it truly was.


	4. Memories

"The coin." I grumbled as I tried to bring my metal encapsulated arm up so my hand could calm my pounding head, but I failed yet again at this simple maneuver. "He caught on before we burned them out."

"It was a play. The final evidence he needed." Noah started, sitting slumped at the edge of my bed. "A play I didn't see coming, he kept it secret. Even from Levi and Hange—I thought he told her all the plans and me being so close I could—" I nudged him painfully with my foot.

"Stop that." My voice burned. "He outplayed both of us." I watched, as the weak light danced in what I knew was a weak smile on his face. "So he used you—"

"There was no time to warn you of the fake plan he told me. As soon as he saw you engage Levi, I followed him out from the main line. He must've known you wouldn't—"

"I would've." I corrected, trying to emphasize the coldness of my voice. "We still don't know if Levi knew of his real plan. All we know for sure is he let Smith take you out on gear, breaking his promise to you." Noah turned from me now. "I would've slaughtered him if I knew Noah." I felt his body tense as it always did when I showed a color he didn't like.

"I wish you wouldn't." He turned back with a glass of water and came close, letting drips land on my tongue. "He saw how you were acting in those moments, you notably slowed to keep your attention on me. When you and Levi started, you were evasive, not aggressive—that's totally uncharacteristic of you, made obvious from the misinformation _I_ gave you. He caught us off guard and this was his proof. Even though you think that proof was because of you honoring my wish, I'm glad you still did. We were screwed way before that came to light." I kept my tongue out, letting the drips slid back into my dry throat; my sense of taste came back with the sudden unpleasant presence of iron and blood. "Do you remember the rest yet?" I closed my eyes twice in a row, as I didn't want the water trickle to stop. He recognized my sign and kneeled at my side. "This is where it gets bad… can you—" I shot him a look and he stopped his pointless protest.

A spark flew from the center light, dashing across the span of the left arm and Fury quickly dropped underneath Levi's long blade and pushed forward, a spark flew to the right arm and down to the left leg, she quickly spun out of the second blade's seemingly slow, expected slash and slammed her shoulder into his vulnerable abdomen, striking as his left leg rose was raised for a kick that never landed. He fell backwards a few feet before regaining his balance. Fury did not waste the stun of this time, watching Noah's signature as he followed the bushy browed man away she shot off after. Levi peeked over his crossed arms, his mere defense for her expected onslaught as she always had after landing a stun blow, confused as he watched her flee? No. She never—what was her cause? What was he missing? He looked across the glimmering red rooftops, above the tedious battles waged below between hood and Scout, and saw two unmistakable figures fleeing ahead of her into the glaring morning sunrise. Without another moment's hesitation he began his pursuit, with equal levels of curiosity and panic.

"Commander!" Noah called with a desperate wheeze, as he flew over citizens heading further south to Maria. He flowed flawlessly between each structure, a pace and skill he knew Noah couldn't match.

"Here! Keep up Church!" His voice boomed from beyond and Noah became even more anxious than before, his mind racing at his true intentions.

"Please I can't—" He shot off using more gas to speed himself to an even more uncomfortable speed, air shot into his mouth, cutting off his speech. Noah eventually stopped at a higher rooftop, scanning for his Commander. "I'm not meant for this!" He called. "I'm an armorer not a Scout!"

"Why not be both?" Commander's voice mused from the top of a bell tower, Noah whipped around to the tall tower behind him, which casted a shadow from the morning sun behind him. Noah ignored his usual taunt as he searched for the actual commander.

"What the hell are you doing?" Noah called up, his voice catching the attention of the numerous citizens beneath them. "Sir please! I have no idea what I'm doing—"

"Trust me. You do. Keep up!" The sound of hooks shooting was unmistakable and Noah shot off towards the bell tower. As he tried to bridge the large gap to the bell, a solid green flash flew by his right side, almost smacking directly into him but curving at the last second. Noah twisted his head to see what the projectile was but was interrupted at an odd sensation—free fall. He screamed as the right wire fell limp and the left automatically retracted, locking—a mechanism he knew far too well of the awful standard equipment. He looked up to the bright blue sky as lochs of grey flew up from their bun and surrounded his head, the tower before him expanding further and higher into the sky.

Suddenly he twisted and stopped, his nose a foot away from the cobblestones. His hair immediately whipped down and flowed against the street but his head never followed, something held him back but the answer became clear as his abs knocked against her arm. Her cool skin was against his forehead and her other arm supported his torso as his legs whipped down to the ground. He would've screamed from the pain that shot through his body but his lungs were empty from the impact against her. The next thing he knew he was flying back up, now the ground and bell tower shrunk as he was twisted back up to face the sky. She landed easily on the edge of the bell's landing and propped him up onto the stone pillar.

"Are you—" Fury was breathing heavy from her pursuit, something Noah wasn't used to hearing. "alright?" She finished, a bead of sweat fell from her forehead, leaving a white trail behind it. Noah desperately grabbed at the hook on his right hip, trying to ignore the aching pain as she straightened out his legs and catch his breathe. He breathed heavy as his hands swept over the wire until they hit the end, a sharp edge. With that edge came a shocking moment he'll never forget, his Commander's plan fell into place. His hands felt the smooth edge that could be made only by a blade as his eyes went from Fury's shadowed hood to the giant bell outlined behind her.

"Run—" he tried to plead but his breath was still gone. Fury's head twisted in confusion as she sensed the movement below them. Everything moved slowly, then all at once. The bell started, a deafening noise that made her scream as her hands flung to her overly sensitive ears. Suddenly she was stumbling, trying to find her way out of the pain but, in this moment, she was truly blind. Smith flew up to the landing behind her. "Behind you!" Noah finally was able to call but the bell's ringing drowned him out.

Fury was completely senseless as Smith tackled her into the ground under the bell. She began to flight fiercely, still able to feel but the world was dark to her without the true sound of it, now full of only the painfully loud chiming of the bell. Noah watched, petrified as Smith beat her—fist over fist, over and over. At a point he would've guessed she'd been dead, Smith stopped and straightened, he was sitting on her hips and Noah saw, her arms had locked around her head in defense but she was still lost. Feeling the onslaught finish, she quickly threw her hips up and somehow sent the large man over her head.

She twisted back to her feet, crouching so her fingertips touched the landing. She moved backwards, trying to feel where his steps would land but the bell made the tower shake with it. Smith lunged again tackling her up to the post behind them, across from Noah. She was pinned up though, able to claw at his back and punch for just a moment before she kicked him, sending him back into the bell. Her feet fell out from under her and she fell forward onto her hands and knees, the faux stone falling atop of her. She coughed a mix of blood and bits of broken teeth—apparently a good many of Smith's punches did land after all. She looked up; the commander was back up but weakened from her kick. "Mike! Stop!" Noah began screaming of fear now, not knowing what to say or do as he saw the incoming soldier that brought back a flash of the horrible memory from years prior, only this time, Mike's sword cut into the steel underbelly of the pillar behind her.

She instinctually lunged, in an attack that was more effective as a dodge from Mike, and smashed into Smith, tackling him to the ground. Mike twisted back to free his sword, pulling it from the mesh of steel. As he writhed with all his impressive might against the blade, it finally gave—bringing out a piece of rebar with it. It was then he knew—he grabbed the blinded Fury and threw her back to the pillar. Her scream of pain pierced the slowing bell chimes as her hands flew up to the rebar sticking out from her right shoulder. Her feet kicked out, over a foot from touching the ground as her hands clawed at the strange metal protruding over 2 feet from under her collarbone. Noah watched as her struggling slowly ceased, droplets of tears and blood spilled down her cheeks, erasing more and more of her disguise. The chiming bell finally stopped and Smith rose with Mike's help.

"Please!" Noah cried out first "Please leave her alone!" Mike glanced over his shoulder, across Smith's arm he was supporting, to Noah but Smith's eyes stayed forward. Levi quickly landed next to Noah, his cool expression slightly off at the strange scene.

"What the hell—" he started at Smith but crouched to Noah.

"Levi! It's Kaia! It's Kaia! Make them stop! Help her!" He cried out, completely in a state of panic. "Please! Don't let her die!" Levi's steel eyes grew wide and he turned to the girl pinned to the wall, Smith's fist brought her hood down slowly and light finally touched the girl's—now more like a woman's—face. Her ears were bleeding significantly, streaming down the muscled arcs of her neck and down to her tags. Her eyes were clenched shut in pain, her jaw grit in the same way, trails of blood fell from the corners of her mouth as her fists trembled around the metal, she was trying to hoist herself up to ease the pain.

Levi slowly walked forward to join the other two men, staring in astonishment—the face they had buried long ago. "Kaia…?" Levi's voice was a true whimper and her eyes shot open, revealing raging gray eyes dripping in blood. Her entire self turned savage as her clawed hand reached for their throats. The three took a quick step back and watched the monster—growling and screaming, calling for their blood amongst other horrendous calls.

"That's just Fury! But Kaia's still there! I swear to it!" Tears flew from Noah's golden eyes. "Levi she's still there! I swear!" The three stayed silent, watching the beast before them slowly retrieve back into herself, trying to manage the pain.

"Let's do what we set out to do." Mike went to pull his blade from its sheath but Levi caught his hand.

"Don't you fucking dare…" Levi growled quickly, tightening his grip "I'll tear your fucking throat out."

"We're putting her out of her misery." Mike stayed calm to Levi's rage. "You can't honestly believe this is her." Levi's face stayed cold and stern.

"Enough. We're not killing her." Smith announced to Mike's dismay. "We're going to do right by her... to right our wrong."

"How the hell do you plan to do that?" But Mike's question would remain unanswered.

"King! Maddox!" Fury began to screech repeatedly in desperation.

"Kaia!" Levi called as he moved closer to try and silence her; he was almost caught by her sudden, clawed lash that was accompanied by a sickening smile. He dodged quickly, his face twisted in his indifferent version of shock.

"She's not the same Levi look at her!" Mike called.

"No Levi! She is!" Noah's voice this time got the trio's attention. "I promise you she's still in there…" he watched as four figures moved across the far rooftops quietly "it's just she's—" but his voice trailed as he realized their attention wasn't on him.

Before he could turn to see, Smith then Mike were on top of him, Mike's hooks stuck into the stone on either side of Noah, securing the pile as a giant wall of wind came over them. Levi had moved to Kaia, who, until his cool skin touched her hot cheek, tried to struggle and push him off as she screamed indignities in his ear. He pinned her further to the wall, his strength outmatching her waning power and pushed her arms back to the pillar, holding her level with the rebar. The true, sweet touch of skin to skin stopped her pushing against him, as she flashed back to the past. "Shh firecracker…" he cooed into her ear and with this, she calmed, completely soothed for small moment before the wind was upon them.

"I don't remember much after…" I took a hard gasp in, silencing Noah as I drew his concern. "Are you—"

"I…remember…" I could've sworn I felt the wind around me again. "You…were knocked out from the fall." The words cut my throat; Noah prepared more honey water for me. "I…was with Levi. King came and…I…with the citizens…we fought. I fought with Levi and King until—" Suddenly I remembered the Titan, her face was clear—her true face was clear and I saw—her mouth, the eyes…her teeth—

Levi sprinted through the hallways, the distant screeching was all too familiar, Hange had warned him of her withdrawal but she had only recently woken up. He took another sharp turn, his boots skidding against the smooth tile. High official Scouts stumbled out of his charge but he could give less of a shit. The only other option was the Renegades… King must've come for her but he had only just escaped… Levi hit the staircase, her screeching was far louder now, and jumped down each set with his unwavering, full force. King… was he really that crazy? Within seconds he arrived at the bottom level, far in the underground of the Scout's bastille. The huge metal door was wide open and all 15 of the guards were gone from the main door but there was no sign of blood… he kept moving through the dark, dank dungeon, passing by the few terrified inmates in there—the screeching was terribly loud, causing them to scream, clutching their own ears in the pain. He hit the next main staircase down to her cell, where 4 of the guards were standing aimlessly in a panic.

He quickly pushed passed them through the next solid steel door to the great stone room, it's only accessory was the large steel cage built into the bedrock, the foundation of the bastille itself. Another 3 guards were outside the matching steel door entrance to the cage while 8 guards struggled around the edges of her metal bed. Hange stood with the 3 guards, waiting for the okay to approach. She was thrashing fiercely, 2 guards at each limb, the loosely fitted chains and braces around her thin body couldn't stop her. She was screaming and spitting in their faces, with a rage that looked odd on her clear, cleaned face.

Noah was behind her, sitting up against the back of the cage, a look of fear in his eyes at his distressed sister. "Noah!" Levi called as he pushed passed Hange into the cage, moving swiftly around the struggling scene to her head, which was held down by a collar, bolted into the stone. "What happened?"

"She—I—we were talking when she snapped!" Levi, remembering the tower, cautiously laid the back of his hand on her forehead. Her skin was ablaze but her struggling did soften slightly, allowing the guards to restrain her limbs back in place with leather straps. They eased off, surprised at her sudden weakness. He crouched next to her ear.

"Kaia…" he whispered. A long wicked cackle came from the back of her throat, unsettling all the guards.

"You're all going to die. Maddox will pick his teeth with your bones." She began her insane cackling again but this brief moment allowed Hange to come in close. Levi commanded the guards to leave and secure the room once more. Hange quickly stabbed her in the thigh with a needle and Fury's hips rose high from the stone bed with a sickening curve as she screamed. She was dressed lightly in white; a loose strapless bra covered her breasts matched by a thin piece of underwear. They were soaked through from her sweat, to no surprise: each muscle was flexing hard against her thin, scarred skin, veins popping through in distress. Eventually she slowly fell back to the hard stone, her breathing was shallow and rapid, and Levi could swear he could see her heart pumping through her small chest. Her eyes fell open but aimless on him, making him wince in remembrance.

"Kaia… are you there?" He brought his other hand to stroke her cheek. Her storm eyes shifted and suddenly her face came back to life.

"Levi…" I mumbled as his signature came into view. Noah could've sworn he saw tears start in Levi's steel gray eyes.

"Kaia!" Levi's voice was sharp as he brought his cool forehead to mind, he sniffed as he smiled and chuckled. "Kaia…" he just kept repeating quietly to me…over and over.

"It hurts…" I mumbled again. "It…all hurts…" My body felt like it was on fire and I felt…far away, like I was floating in a dark abyss and his voice and touch were faint.

"Stay with me Kaia, please…" He began to stroke my hair but I felt less and heard less of him as her voice started again.

"Kaia…I need the doctor. I need the doctor who helped you." Hange started, seeing her slipping. She was motionless in Levi's small embrace. "Kaia?" Hange crept closer. Suddenly she was alive with a fury, snapping her sharp teeth in Hange's face. She bobbed backwards in fear.

"Kaia!" Levi started, pushing her head back to the stone. Her short, dirty blonde hair flew back behind her head, exposing her crooked smile. "Please, it's to help you."

"Fuck you shitslinger." She hissed in his face. "Look at you, feigning care for her. You're the fucking monster." This took both of them aback, but Noah stepped up.

"Fury please…you'll die without help. You need to help here." He started; her eyes traced him back and forth.

"Liars…" she went on. "All of them..."

"Please… is this how you want to die?"

"But…Noah…" Her face began twitching and shifting. "I… am how she—"

"Is this how you redeem Isabel?" He spoke confidently with tears in his eyes; she stayed quiet, her face continuing to twitch oddly. "Tell them the doctor."

"But King—" she started.

"—will understand." He finished. "King would want you to live." Suddenly her face stopped the awful twitching and her eyes fell to Hange.

"Theo…" I whispered. "Please…" I felt the tears well up in my eyes, I was afraid of the incoming pain and memories. "I…saw it." I stared into the odd signature next to me, in a haze, I remembered. It had to be him.

"What do you mean?" Hange pried out of interest. "What do you mean by that?"

"I saw…it… please… Theo. I need your help. Please…" But the memories came back and I faded away again.

She laid back again, easy and at rest. "Dr. Theo?" Hange confirmed amongst the now, peaceful cell. She looked to Levi through her thick glasses, his own were still on Fury. "Ring any bells?" He shot a quick glare to her at her bad joke, his eyes went back to her.

"Ergastulum." Noah replied, he stretched up from his crouch. "I've heard rumors of him, never met him myself. I always wondered if he was the one… he's protected by Benriya now."

"How can you be sure?" Hange questioned. "And who's Benriya?"

"That's where she fell." Levi spoke coolly and quietly, regaining his indifferent composure. "It would make sense that's where King brought her."

"Why the hell did you chase her through there?! Do you know how dangerous that district is?" Hange began but eased back, remembering what Smith said—it wasn't her place.

"That's where we fled to after Isabel and Farlan died." Noah answered quietly.

"You… lived there?" Hange was surprised by her young apprentice's real identity.

"Yes. Benriya are mercenaries. Word on the streets of Trost says the tag is one of the highest ranked rogues." Noah went on, looking back at Levi's stern face. "That's shaky territory, even for the Renegades. They had an agreement with the Paulklee guild, no crossing the boundaries. Made peace easily."

"Alright." Levi touched Kaia's peaceful cheek one last time before he rose.

"What do you mean?" Hange began to panic and stood across from him. "You're not going there—we have no plan or means of tracking him."

"You may not, but I do." Levi turned toward Noah, who nodded in reply.

"We'll need some specific equipment." He responded.

"You can't be serious. We're talking to Smith first."

"Smith would never be able to allow it. It can't be traced back to him, just like any of this. She'll die without it. We don't have much time before King comes for her either." Noah smiled for a brief second, happy at Levi's choice. "Noah knows the area and the people. He's my best shot of finding this guy, plus I think I can handle the twerp." Levi turned to the door; Noah quickly scampered alongside in his chains.

"Well—what if you're recognized!" Hange called desperately, distrusting Noah's easygoing attitude. "Just wait a second! Let's consider this!" But the boys were determined as they slipped out of the steel door, leaving Hange with the young blood herself. Her eyes drifted back down to the beauteous beast lying before her and she imagined what she would look like now, if none of her horrors had happened. She remembered the beautiful brunette child pictured with Levi's lost ones, it was Noah's only true possession when he first arrived with Levi after the incident. Her fingers trailed across Fury's face as she observed the scar across her eyes, the skin was still soft and supple.

"What happened to you? What did you see… but more importantly, how?" Her mind trailed off with more questions then there were answers.

"Ugh…" King tossed the mug against the wall, shattering it to pieces and causing the coffee to spill everywhere. "Disgusting." His deep voice was cuttingly cold.

"I-I'm so sorry sir!" Alex ran to the wall and crouched picking up the pieces of the shattered mug quickly. "Is there anything I can get for you?" She called back to King, who was taking joy in the view of her short dress.

"I can think of one or two things…" He mused, causing Alex to shudder in a mix of disgust and fear. "Why don't you sit down dear? You look tired." He patted the cushion next to him. Alex's wide blue eyes whipped to Worick, who was notably conflicted, angered but trying his best to keep the tension light. Nic perched atop the chair in the back, trying to keep his distance from the tag he hated most.

"Can we stick to business sir?" Maddox, who was sitting on the opposite couch, replied first only to be met by an unquestioning glare.

"Nonsense, it's been months." King suddenly appeared behind Alex, wrapping his thick forearms around the seemingly tiny and frail girl now. Alex gasped, dropping the rest of the shattered pieces to the ground. Worick's heavy breathing accompanied the tinks and clinks of the pieces hitting the floor. "I'm sure our new hires wouldn't mind. This is kind of how it works in the Renegades." King nestled his head into her long black hair and took a big sniff, causing her to shudder once more, her eyes petrified and stuck on Worick. "Agh you smell as sweet as you look…" He whispered into her ear as his coal eyes stayed on Worick.

"Tell me more about how the Renegades work, sir." Worick managed to force the words out without too much anger. "I should know more to be of more use to you." His words spread a sinister smile over his lips and he stood, pushing Alex to the ground, out of his way. Nicolas's hand drifted towards his sword but stopped when his eyes went to Worick, this was the part he knew he hated the most: having Alex around these types. King stepped over the terrified girl and went straight to Worick, stopping an inch from him. His head craned down to meet Worick's eyes.

"Why don't we focus on our common goal first? The Renegades are for sick criminal tags, not handsome man-whores like yourself. I'm sure your familiar with Maddox's crimes? That doesn't begin to scratch the surface of the shit we do." His voice was ominous and daring. After another stand-off moment, Worick took a step back from the insanity that was King.

Alex was curled up on her right hip and looked to Maddox, who was rather nice-looking in his borrowed trim white collared shirt and fitted black pants. He was smaller than King as most men were, tall and lean, and incredibly handsome with a chiseled, narrow jaw and high cheekbones. He sat back on the couch; arms crossed across his chest along with his legs, bright green eyes on the steam his cup of tea on the table created. Long purple spikes of hair lifted off his head, flowing together smoothly, with a foot-long tight braid dangling down from his right temple, fastened with a golden strand. His eyes suddenly darted up, sensing her look. A quick smile flashed across his face along with a sharp, curt laugh.

"Don't worry honey, I appreciate the anatomy of men, not to say you aren't as gorgeous in that tight dress you fill out rather nicely." His eyes drifted over to Nicolas, and he winked, causing Nico to sneer sickly back, Alex giggled at the sight, relieved by the humor of King's partner.

"It's no laughing matter my sweet thing." King answered, now standing behind Maddox. He leaned his hands onto each of his shoulders. "You're new around here I take it? This is my second-hand man, the baddest, sickest freak I've ever known—besides for me of course. You see when he says he 'appreciates', he really means he'd love to rape then torturously carve you're friend over there apart, whilst he's still alive, so he can hear the screams—"

"Oh I do love the screams." Maddox echoed, grinning at Nicolas still.

"—and then he's quite a cook, the loveliest you could imagine. His ingredients…not so lovely but I have to admit, not too bad."

"It's all in the spicing, I can't take all the credit." Maddox looked up to King and laughed as the big man squeezed his shoulders.

"Oh he's so modest. But honey, you see that's how my little organization operates. I'm sure you wouldn't want your man-whore around the likes of us."

"Wha—what about you? And—this Fury girl?" Alex asked hesitantly, curious due to Maddox's true nature and Nicolas's fascination and silence on the matter. All she knew about this man was he was bad and he was Gina's son.

"Oh me? I'm just your typical fuck-up, a product of my abusive mother and unknown most likely equally or more fucked-up father. I just like to cause trouble."

"No… you just want to watch the world burn." Maddox responded. "It's both a blessing and a curse, this man's insanity has no limits."

"I've never personally experienced the curse of it all, you're just pessimistic Maddox." King answered with a wicked smile at Alex. "But Furiosa, oh she's a thing of beauty, that she is. She represents everything that's wrong with this world, this system. You see, tags like us, like Nicolas over here, we used to be guardians of this entire world—the last hold of Humanity. All those years ago, we were created to protect against the Titans but the drugs and testing, the stress of fighting and the horrors, it turned our breed from brave heroes to schizophrenic weapons in the eyes of the citizens." He suddenly appeared, crouching in front of Alex, his own tight black pants stretching to accommodate the girth of this man. "You see, they couldn't just get rid of us, because we were too strong. Wars and battles later, an agreement was met where we would survive, thrive under other, government appointed criminals." A look of confusion spread over Alex's face and King laughed. "Yes this whole district is controlled by the Four Father's, which are appointed by deals and favors with the MP. It's all fixed so this area is as horrible as it is terrifying. So people—this class, my breed—can't get out, among other things." King lifted his own out from underneath his tight, blood red t-shirt, Alex's eyes danced across the tags dangling in front of her nose. S/2 glinted in the lamplight. "Furiosa was a normal, like you." King continued. "But, nothing about the girl is normal. She's an S/3 now, same as my crazy friend over here. She's the deadliest thing I've ever created."

"…created?" Alex paused briefly "Is that even possible?"

"Apparently, it is. I found her, years ago, broken. In a heap of blood, pain, each and every bone was pressing out against her skin or protruding out and she had a deep slash, struck across her eyes…" He dragged his pointer finger over Alex's bright eyes "an inch deep. She had survived at least a mile long…how? I'll never have a fucking clue. But she did, and she was crawling through the dirt and rocks, pulling herself by one, crooked arm. That's how much she wanted to live…to survive. I've never seen anything like it since. She wasn't even 12 yet." Alex gasped at this.

"She was… a child?! Who would do such a thing—" she stopped as she noticed Nicolas in the backround, clenching his eyes…so as not to hear.

"Scouts. Never even went looking for her." King finished her thought, following her glance to Nicolas then turning her chin slowly back to his face with his knuckle. "Do you want to know who she is now?"

"Who?" Alex asked, her eyes growing ever bigger.

"Your best chance for a real life." King answered coldly.

"So, how do we get our luck back?" Worick questioned King, eager to get his attention off of Alex.

Maddox smiled at Worick's question. "Before we consider that, I'd like to know what the hell your tag was doing in Shiganshina the day the wall fell."


	5. Silk

Ragged jeans complemented by his own run down stained hoodie made Levi look like a typical degenerate. He stuffed his hands into the pocket and pulled the hood way over his rustled up hair to hide his familiar face. Noah fit in much better than he did, he teased his long gray hair out again, allowing it to run as ragged as it once had. He had no shirt on with a tattered coat and split up jeans. His pale white skin was streaked all over with dirt, a move Levi refused. Noah was now leading him through the old alleyways he once knew like the back of his hand. Eventually they came to a skinny street with a small sign sticking out from one of the most run-down buildings Levi had laid eyes on.

"That's it." Noah whispered back to him.

"That? You're sure?" Levi questioned back. "This is where the great tag doctor works?"

"Flashy out here gets you in trouble… Or did you forget that?" They approached the old, rusting door to the clinic. Noah stayed in front and knocked heavily, hoping that was the norm for this clinic. Levi glanced around; the sun would be setting soon. Their journey took longer than they thought with the excess pathways they had to take to avoid recognition; he didn't want to be out after dark—especially with Noah in this area, he was a prime target if anyone knew. Noah knocked again, this time small footsteps came from the other side. A quick glimpse of blue eyes through a window then a cascade of clicks and the door creaked open, a small girl on the other side. She was very young at barely 3 feet tall, she had a mess of brunette hair with a red tint and a black bowed white dress.

"Can I help you?" She called in a sweet voice.

"Hello, I'm looking for Dr. Theo. Is there a chance I could speak with him?" Her eyes stayed on his chest. Noah promptly pulled his jacket apart, revealing his bare chest. "Same goes for him." But her eyes stayed on Levi until he pulled his hood down far enough to show there were no tags.

"Just a moment please." She quickly slammed the door, next came another cascade of clicks and her footsteps faded away.

"Fucking fantastic." Levi shifted after a moment.

"Give her time." Noah replied, they waited for another 15 minutes before hearing heavier steps. The door opened in its same procedure except this time, a tall, well built man appeared with a cigarette dangling from the corner of his lip.

"Who are you?" He questioned immediately, the glint of the falling light shown on one of the lenses of his glasses.

"Are you Dr. Theo?" Levi cut off Noah before he could speak.

"Perhaps. Depends on who's asking." He shot back.

"If it wouldn't be so rude, could we come in for a chat?" Noah asked in an innocent tone. The doctor looked him up and down a moment before allowing them to enter his shack of a clinic. The two entered the dark room slowly, Noah moved to the edge of one of only two beds while Levi posted against the cement wall across from the door.

"I'm Noah Church. I have some questions regarding a past patient her name was—"

"I cannot talk about past patients. Against the law." The cigarette bobbed and weaved with every syllable.

"It's not a problem." Levi removed his hood now; no reaction came from the doctor at the realization of his company. "It's considering Furiosa."

"I've never worked on a tag by that name." Theo quickly countered, the small girl moved from behind his coat. "Please, pardon my manners. This is Nina, my assistant. Nina, Captain Levi and Noah Church."

"A pleasure." Levi called sarcastically. "Listen, we need your help. She's hurt pretty badly."

"So I've heard. I don't work on those though."

"Then why'd you save her in the first place?"

"Because I had a gun to my head, raving by that King himself."

"Arrangements can be made…" Levi started, causing Noah to stir.

"They won't be made, as she is now under Scout influence. I'm sure you've seen the news." Noah attempted to calm the tension.

"I've seen it. I don't work with that organization. I'm contracted out. Business."

"You don't have to work that way… if you're as good as they say." Levi pushed off the wall and stood up straight. "We can help you."

"I don't want help. Nor do I need it."

"Not even if it meant a prestigious job in a safe area? A place where it's appropriate that a little girl answers to strangers."

"You're promises don't mean shit if it can't happen immediately. I've seen it with plenty of clinics, now please…" Theo turned to the door but Levi's foot held it shut.

"You save her, the job is all yours. We can take both of you right now." Noah

promised, but the doctor's eyes stayed on Levi. He eventually sighed, moving away

from the doorknob to face Noah.

"I don't support the Renegades for multiple reasons, mainly so I don't put a target on

my back and wind up dead in an alley."

"What if she wasn't a Renegade?" Noah protested the doctor's condition.

"Just because she's in your custody doesn't mean she's not a Renegade, if she even _is_

in your custody."

"You don't believe us?" Levi slammed his foot to the ground now in an act of intimidation, bringing all of the attention to him.

"Look… please. She'll die without you. There must've been a real reason you helped her that day." Nina tugged on his pant leg, giving him a big blue-eyed stare.

"We should help her. She was nice to you, to _us._ " Theo sighed at the girl's vague emphasis.

"Well, what else can you offer?" Noah looked to Levi, who rolled his eyes at the situation.

"What'll it cost?" He grumbled.

Nicolas walked down the alleyways adjacent to the main streets, his torso still ached but at least he knew Nina's stitches would stay. He hung his head low as he passed groups of rogues and thieves, thinking about Dr. Theo's proposition. Eventually he arrived home, the sun had fallen low by now and dusk was the preferred time for the twilight. He took the steps one at a time to reach the lofted apartment, dreading what lied behind the door.

"Hey how was it? Nina doing well?" Nicolas read Alex's lips, surprised she was the only one present.

 _Fine._ He signed quickly, knowing she probably wouldn't understand. He began peering around the apartment; searching for the insane men he regretted adding to his plan. He opened Worick's door to find the large blonde lying on the bed, his hands pulled over his face. He quickly removed them as Nicolas entered.

"They're gone. Off to regroup their remaining hoods." Nic grunted as he sat down on the end of the bed. The two stayed in silence, pondering over what exactly they had gotten themselves into. Alex gently knocked on the door and their eyes turned to her.

"How are you guys doing?"

"Alex, I'm sorry—"

"Stop. You're doing it for a good reason."

 _It's for my own benefit._ Nicolas signed and Worick spoke for Alex's ears. _That doesn't make it good reason._

"Well isn't it for her too? You need to help this girl."

"She's not what you would recognize as a girl. She's probably too far gone." Worick's comment was met with a glare by Nicolas "I'm sorry, but it's an outcome you need to be ready for." Alex touched his shoulder.

"Worick… he loves that girl." She leaned in and whispered; not knowing it didn't keep him from reading. He gave an off-put grunt.

"That love story was all I could come up with on the spot that could fit. Sorry about that again Nic." Nic rolled his eyes in response.

"Wait so—you don't—"

"No. He doesn't." Worick quickly cut her off before she could name the issue that he had tried so hard to keep out of his brother's head "She does do something for him though." Worick looked back to Nicolas and Alex's eyes followed, confused.

Nicolas sighed with Worick's demanding look and simply tapped his ear.

"What the hell happened to her?" Theo questioned the moment he stepped through the final steel door, into her cage.

"Just fix her." Levi curtly commanded.

"I've set each bone again, but she has these terrors which screws it all up. I can't get her to sleep for a full night and she's diaphoretic to the point where I can't keep her fluids sufficient."

"Terrors?" He analyzed the still, almost lifeless body of the girl. "She's never had those." Hange looked up to the tall doctor.

"How would you know that?"

"Because he's her doctor." Noah announced, causing the stoic doctor to drop his cigarette. He sighed and squished the butt into the ground of her cage.

"So I am." He admitted and Mike jumped in front of Levi to keep him from pouncing.

"Are you fucking kidding me?" Levi scathed but Mike managed to hold him back. His only response was to light another cigarette. "And you, you fucking twerp I swear…"

"He's fucking here isn't he?" Noah yelled back with a smirk as he jumped back from outside the cage, his chained wrists clinked around a pole near Fury's head.

"Enough. Let me work please." Mike pushed Levi outside the cage and closed the door in his face. This left Mike, Hange, Dr. Theo and Nina in the cage with Fury. Levi took a moment and calmed. He looked to the left and watched, as Noah looked on, chained to the cage, watching as Dr. Theo worked with Hange to save Fury. Nina removed a large canister from the backpack they brought and Noah cringed. Levi could guess what would come next. Nina followed by preparing this large, 14 gauge needles.

"Wait. Wait you can't give her that." Levi called from outside the cage.

"Her body's dependent on it, and she's in worse shape now than ever because you took your sweet time finding me." Theo responded dryly.

"What about Kaia? What will it do to her?" Levi called in, a panic tone to his voice.

"It'll keep her heart going but…" Theo sighed as he pulled his gloves on "Nina prepare the patient please." Nina quickly nodded and began wiping down the frail girl.

"But what?" Levi persisted but was ignored by each one. "But what!" He yelled.

"It's not going to be her when she wakes. She'll be supercharged on the drug, but Kaia will be alive." Noah spoke easily to Levi.

"I told you this was a bad idea…" Mike muttered as he watched Nina hand the prepared syringe to Dr. Theo.

"And just think, this isn't even the tricky part." Theo muttered as he began insert the first syringe, deep into the bend of her clavicle. She didn't stir until the 9-inch needle hit the hilt of the syringe. Levi stayed for each of the 64 injections, and each horrifying scream. By the end of the 8 hours, she looked far worse than when they started.

"So, injecting into the bone is how you did it?" Hange confirmed her curiosity.

"Yes, but it leaves the bone fairly fragile compared to regular tags. King taught her how to avoid hard impacts but—"

"She's stubborn." Levi finished, lifting his hands from his face as he remembered the hits they've exchanged.

"Oh whatever a soldier can do is out of scope for her now—too minimal." Nina innocently replied. "What's more important is she'll live."

"How do we get her to be Kaia again?" Noah asked as the crew departed the cage, leaving the weak body belted to the stone.

"A withdrawal period. There's been rare success with it, but some tags manage to live on small doses—about a thousandth of what I just pumped into her." Theo stepped out of the cage. "I don't think you understand what you're planning though." He stopped in front of Levi. "It's going to be horrendous and I can't guarantee she'll live but …" Theo sighed and rubbed under his glasses "…given her past, I don't know. But—"

"She's worth trying." They both turned to Nina, who was holding the satchel of old needles. "That's what he's trying to say anyway." Hange came up behind her, smiling. "It'll take a long time though, and she'll have to start from scratch."

Levi smirked at this. "I can do that."

Wagons creaked on as horses exhaled quickly, shaking their reins vigorously. The citizens chattered endlessly, when I focused I could hear specifics on relationship issues, money troubles, general depression and fear… was this what the surface was really like?

 _Ignorant pigs._ The dark voice came around again; I shook my head like the horse, trying to shake it from my mind. It vanished as quickly as it appeared, sometimes I was grateful for it, other times…

"Name and Business." Commander's voice entered my world. I turned my head down the rooftop, to the balcony.

"Noah Church! I have Hange's reports for you sir." An eager Noah replied.

"Come in." I moved to the balcony myself, curious at this relationship. Noah had always spoken fondly of Smith; I wondered how I, the apparent monster of the bastille, ruined this for him too. I shot my head out to peer in through a small window, catching glimpses of the now familiar signatures.

"Here you are sir." Smith stayed silent but Noah didn't move from the desk.

"Something else?" Smith broke the silence.

"I'd like to formally apologize sir." Noah's voice grew heavy here. "For my actions…" he tapered off, shifting his weight and clattering his chains once more. "I… I don't really know what to do to prove it to you."

"There's nothing you can prove to me. Be thankful I haven't had you executed. Now—" but Noah remained, not ready to accept defeat.

"Sir I—"

"Enough." The Commander's voice boomed over his. "You've done enough damage." Noah backed up a tad, chains scratched the floor "You should be focused on the girl, her performance is the only possible thing you could do to begin to make up for this fucking mess."

"Y—yes of course sir." Noah's voice sounded incredibly frail, I wouldn't have recognized it in a different setting. Quick scraping signified his exiting but he was stopped by a call from Smith.

"I hope, for your sake, she _is_ worth it." He warned, a sinister tone in his voice. Noah didn't reply, making my own heart sink. He scurried away, the door closed and I heard a sigh from the large man. I eased myself down onto his balcony.

"Everyone's gone insane." He muttered into his hands.

"It's much more fun, I assure you." His head whipped to me. "You'd like it if you tried it." I moved to the doorframe, the French doors opened into his office and the sound of fabric flowed with the breeze. "None of this is his fault." I stayed in the doorframe, not wanting to upset this man, _at least not right now anyway_.

"How exactly does that work?" The man sarcastically replied as he pretended to focus on his work, merely shuffling papers around. His heart rate stayed steady.

"What choice did he really have?" I reached my chained hands in together, running the pads of my fingers down the breezy fabric. "Your dead sister comes back to life by some miracle, would you ignore her? Tell her what's right and what's wrong?" The fabric was thin and delicate, but softer than anything I had ever known. "Is this cotton? It's fabulous."

"Silk." Was all he said.

"Ah, such a disappointment… to tell you the truth I have no idea what cotton is, but I've heard great things about it."

"You're hiding aren't you" he replied "from Levi?" I smirked at his response.

"Well it's a beautiful view." My joke didn't land with the serious blonde. "I hate taking that medicine, doesn't do me any good. Plus this is the one place he wouldn't look, so I hope you don't mind." He actually chuckled at this.

"Please come in." I was surprised by his invite, but made my way in regardless. I loved the night, but the rooftop breeze was incredibly cold on my old bones, and being in nothing but a hospital gown wasn't helping. "You keep quiet for those chains."

"Trying to get back to my performance standard." I spoke as I drifted across the room, letting my fingertips glide against every nook and cranny of the walls.

"Ah." He leaned back, the leather of his chair squeaking from his weight. "How's that going for you?"

"Pretty well so far, you sure you still want to ship me off? Could become an idol for all those poor, innocent kids again… Or I could kill them all for the sheer fun of it." The last part, wasn't me and I stepped back at my own words.

"Oh, I don't think you'd do such a thing Fury."

I turned back to him at those words. "What so now you're giving the monster morals? I thought at least _you'd_ be smarter than that."

"Well I'd like to believe I know more about you than you think." I stayed silent, thinking over these words.

"What happened to Isabel?" I popped the question with the intent of surprise but his heart rate remained steady as always.

"I take it Levi didn't tell you." His voice stayed steady. Who the hell was I dealing with here?

"I figure if I'm going to be your next top weapon, I should be allowed to learn from his mistakes… For the sake of humanity and all that bullshit."

"He tried to kill me. That was his mistake." Erwin quickly answered. I contemplated these words, running through scenarios in my mind. "I didn't kill them if that's what you're wondering."

"How'd they die?" I inched forward, awaiting my answer. Smith sighed.

"Levi made a choice, thinking it was the best one—"

"How'd they die?" I repeated, louder.

"If he hasn't told you, what makes you think I—"

"How'd they die?" my blood began to warm.

"He left them, thinking they were safe. They weren't." He concluded.

.

.

.

"Bullshit." I called back. "Levi's an ass, but he's no idiot. He would never leave them without good reason." That couldn't have been the answer because that wasn't a mistake I'd ever make.

"Believe what you want." He turned back down, opening a new folder of work. I grimaced at this man, how his heart stayed steady on such matters, on how much blood was on his hands when my own fluttered when I thought.

"It's ironic isn't it?" I moved to the door, my menacing friend was more boring than I thought. I laid my hand on the doorknob.

"It is, _monster_." He spoke smoothly, having his own answer. I smirked and left the man to his papers and his rather lavish office. Smith turned back to his papers, reading on Hange's opinion of the Female Titan.

My feet ached for the smooth hardwood of his office; the stones were bitterly cold at this hour. I made it down the hall, my fingers lightly tracing the wall as I went, before Levi found me. He began his typical lecture, grabbing and pulling at my hair in the process. By the end of it, my scalp was sore and I choked down the chalky bottle of "bone juice" Hange prepared for me, per Levi's force. I didn't put up a fight, my mind caught in Erwin's meaning. Why doesn't anyone just say the truth around here… I pondered this question as Levi dragged me from the chain connecting my wrists, lifting my arms up which pulled at my robe allowing my bare ass to skid against the cold stones. I looked up to well-lit man… was that because I knew him before or was it something having to do with him? I couldn't tell the difference anymore between what they said, what my memories were, what were lies and what was all in my head.

 _It's all of them. All prey._ I grimaced at the voice once more, _who the hell was that?_

 _Who the hell are you?_ Oh so now it answers, that's a positive sign.

Levi tossed me into the bedroom and I hit the ground hard, which pulled me from these thoughts. I grabbed my head and looked up, wincing from the throw. This got me no sympathy this time, as he was clearly annoyed. I gave up the act and moved to the foot of his bed atop my blanket and held out my wrists for him. This took him off guard and I snickered. He quickly brushed it off and retrieved a new lock, this one sounded heavier.

"A brand new one? Made especially for me? Levi you shouldn't have." I spoke as he leaned down and looped one end through the center chain loop of my wrists and ankles, the other into the bracket bolted into the ground. "Why! It's such a dream!" I mocked innocent and that got him to exhale quickly—the closest thing to a laugh he had nowadays.

"If you don't like it, stop breaking them for shit's sake." He stood as he finished the new locking mechanism.

"I can't help it that you guys suck. That is one thing you can't pin on me." He moved to the bathroom, tossing his jacket on the chair next to the door.

"Yeah, probably the only thing." He mocked back quietly but he knew I'd hear it.

"Hey! You're the one who taught me in the first place!" I yelled after him. "That makes you partly responsible right? At _least_ like… 30%. Wait, that was you… yeah?"

"Shut it gutter punk." Was all I got for that cute quip. He moved back into the room, wearing nothing but his long pajama pants. I didn't hear the squeak of the leather as he passed by. He blew out the candles and climbed into his bed. I peeked up over the bed, to the odd form of light. "What." He asked with a flat tone.

"You're not wearing the belts." I answered honestly. "Why?"

"No need."

"Does someone finally believe I'm not that much of an asshole to desert my last remaining family?" He tensed at the last word.

"No, tired of it pulling at me 24/7. Now shut up."

"Should've thought of that before you decided to drag me around, _24/7_."

"I gave you the fucking option." He raised his voice.

"Yeah, without explaining anything to me, I'd just gotten out of a fucking coma. Now I hafta listen to your shit all day."

"It's my shit that's keeping you alive."

"Some life. Fuckin' torture is what it is." He stayed quiet for a moment.

"You'll be out of it soon enough." I heard his heart rate heighten as his head popped up, staring back at me—into my stormy eyes, at least that's what Noah described them as. I heard his teeth grit, as they always did when he made eye contact. _God, he must hate me._

"You're a shitty liar." Now he sighed, breaking eye contact.

"Just fucking sleep." He gave up the argument, lying back down to his bed. I followed slumping down onto my blanket, tired from another pointless day… like the damn dog I was supposed to be, and contemplated the same thought that had occupied my mind every day of my life…

 _What the hell am I doing?_

I want to go home, back to whatever home was.

.

.

.

"I don't want to fucking do any of this bullshit." I spat back. "Fucking ridiculous." Noah had interrupted my game, I called it _steal-as-much-as-you-can._ It was the only game I had Levi wasn't so strict about it, mainly because he always found all the money and crap I stole from the wing. Now he was dragging me to another briefing.

"Hey. You get to kill Titans." This made me relax, if it wasn't for that tiny aspect—the revenge I could get for Isabel and Farlan. "Plus, I get to learn how to fight and you get a solid amount of time to recuperate and find your strength again." My left fist flew to his right arm and he smacked into the wall.

"Oh look there it is." I mused, hiding my own surprise at the movement. "C'mon." I picked him off the ground.

"Damn it Kai…" He chuckled as he rolled his shoulder and we continued to Smith's office.

.

.

.

"Here you go." Hange handed me a small, thick folder containing citizenship information and every piece of paper I'd need. I whipped open the packet in curiosity, feeling the pressure the pen had put on the slim paper. _Ryder Church. 5'2. 115 lbs. Gray eyes, light brown hair. Shiganshina District._

"115?" I announced. "God damn how much was I before this?"

"140. That's your goal weight." Smith answered. _Ah, shit…_ "But if you can pack on more muscle, that'd be greatly appreciated."

"Do I at least get my hood back? I'm allowed to wear it under the jacket right?" I looked up to Levi because he had to give it to me, he knew what it meant but he turned his head from me.

"Yeah…see about that…" Hange went on. "There's not much left of it."

"I don't care. It's not like any of these kids will recognize me." I protested. I watched her shrug as she dug out my hoodie from her bag. She held it out to me and I grabbed it, eager for the old fabric. There was barely anything left. Holes scattered the material, a gaping one on the right shoulder took out most of the right side. "Was this…?" I felt the tears around the top and bottom of the hood, rips from the side. I threw it on over my head and the material still covered…most of me. I knew my white t-shirt was shining through.

"The rebar, yeah." Levi answered as my hand went underneath my right clavicle; the source of the numbness on my right arm, the feeling was slowly coming back but it was nothing close to what it should be. The material was gone, tearing all the way down my side. The amount of holes I began to feel around it made my blood pressure rise and for the first time in months I felt true fear.

"Kai?" Noah's hand landed on my left shoulder and I snapped back from the deep scar.

"Hmm?" I brushed off his concern and hid my own.

"You're to report to Shadis every week, where he evaluates the both of you privately. When he deems the time right, we'll come for a special selection. The faster you do this, the faster you're out of there." Smith apparently repeated. "Understand?"

"Yeah." I muttered, mind elsewhere.

"You are not to leave Noah's side. Do you understand?"

"Yeah." I spoke louder now as I had been briefed 3 times already.

"Kaia…" I flinched as Levi spoke that name "This is serious."

"Don't worry I won't let anything happen to the good one." Sarcasm was heavy on my voice as a twinge of jealousy left my heart. "We'll be fine—" Pain exploded in the back of my head as my breathe left my lungs, I raised my hands up to his throat and clawed for a short moment before they were swiped back down to the right. "Gagh!" Was all I could manage as I was quickly turned, face smashed into the wall a foot on my ankle chain blocked my motion and his other hand pulled my wrists backward by their chain.

"Levi!" Noah's voice came strong from my right as a tear was wrung out of my eyes. Just as quickly as he had started it stopped, I fell to the ground, right shoulder on fire. Noah came to my side but I pushed him off angrily, not in the mood for his pity. I tried to stand too quickly, my head went light and I fell before I made it halfway up. Now I accepted Noah's pity as the familiar migraine began.

"You're weaker than I've ever seen you. Stop acting like tough shit and take this seriously." The words grew louder as he came close. "Anything happens to him, I'll gut you like the beast you are."

 _His heart…pumping on his jugular… just a quick bite and you could—_ I grit my teeth and winced back at the thought of him bleeding out from his throat. Images of all the bodies in the room dead, bleeding out beautiful streams of red… suddenly there were glimpses of other bodies in different scenes, places I've never been before, they looked nothing like the few rooms I've lived in. "Noah…" I whimpered as my body began to shake from anger. He understood the motion and brought me up.

It took a few minutes for me to stay standing, the room stayed silent at the show. Anger raced through my blood at my realization of his truth. I leaned into Noah's arms as he guided me to the door in silence.

 _Weak… Beast…_ The words bounced around my mind as Noah brought me outside for the first time in nearly a year.


	6. Sweet Dream

p class="MsoNormal"I was sprinting in the darkness but I was lost. There were calls and screeches behind me but for some reason, I felt no fear. They grew louder as they came closer, as they came close my legs felt stronger and I got a burst of air in my lungs. I saw the signatures of light in my peripheral vision and began cackling myself. That's when I saw the lights ahead of us, running and screaming. It was then it all came into view as I leapt from my gear and landed on one, the squishing was so satisfying as hot blood squirted onto my face and skidded the fleshy parts off into the nooks and crannies of the ground. When I finally stopped on my impromptu skateboard I reached down with a clawed hand and took the warm, gushy goodness from his throat and flung it high into the sky. I looked up and my vision was filled with a face—grey skin with two small scars under his right eye and a tuft a black hair fell over coal black eyes. em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"I'm so proud of you. /emHe spoke in a deep voice and I shivered. He started chanting it, over and over getting louder and louder and my hands shot to my ears as I finally gained control of my body. I began screaming back as the chanting became overwhelming./p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal"I shot up in my bed drenched in sweat. Annie's hand was on my shoulder and she handed me her flask. "You got to stop with these nightmares, we barely get enough sleep as it is." She spoke in her disgruntled sleeping voice and turned back over. I couldn't help but relax a bit as I took a swig of her bitter scotch. I grabbed the towel I always kept by the bunk and dried off a bit before I laid back and stared at the ceiling for another several hours while praying for sleep./p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal"_/p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal""C'mon!" She roared in frustration, but I couldn't blame her. I hated getting smacked needlessly in the skull, simply out of pride, and I was abusing her same weakness. "You're a coward!" She tensed with her blades arcing high into the air above her, a hold I found far less comfortable for the inconveniently long blade, and continued watching her steps as she scanned the tree line of the small clearing. I quickly shot from the high tree and skipped right through her swords, yanking on her bun while she only cut style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanI vanished into the thicket of bushes as her angered onslaught followed me./p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal"We were racing in silence now, the only sounds in the deep forest were the cracking trunks under our boots and the quick successions of hook launches. We were speeding now, and I finally felt at peace in the chase—it had been weeks since we were able to do this and I had missed the real action. I glided and slipped past trees, flipping and rotating around every branch and obstacle and Annie kept up, I could hear her bounding heart only a few feet from me. em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"Amp it up. /emI smirked and let loose, allowing the voice to take over. Suddenly my heart began pounding while the hairs on my neck stood up, a sudden chill came over me and I shot forward./p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal"The lights danced faster, blurring closer and closer together until it was all gray but I let that instinct inside me take over. I twitched and reflexed quicker than I ever had, moving farther with every stride, making the most out of even the smallest force this unbearably large gear could give me. The sounds of the forest morphed into rapid whooshing from the trunks I was flying by. I smiled and began laughing, enjoying each drop of adrenaline I was getting from this euphoric ride of mine until everything vanished and I was free-floating in a sea of white. I was left with my mind and body in perfect sync and I felt peace as my heart slowed./p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal""RYDER!" My moment of peace was shattered as I realized I wasn't floating but falling—fast. I was face down to the woods with my legs stretched back over my head. I waited for them to move—for something to move or for her to speak to me again but my head was quiet. Realizing I was alone, I tried to shoot into the closest tree I could but instead of slowing myself down, I whipped myself in a new direction./p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal"I didn't stop until about the 4supth/sup trunk I smacked into. My head cracked back into the tree and I lay still for a minute, sitting straight against my saving tree. A few minutes later, Annie finally arrived, pushing through the grove before me. She looked me up and down and started laughing, a response I happily joined./p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal""You're so dumb it's not fair." I slowly eased off from the tree, wincing a tad from the chronic pain in my shoulder. "No one should move like that with your birdbrain."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal""Birdbrain or not—" I spit a mouthful of blood "You're just mad you can't keep up." This brought on another bout of laughter from her as she eventually came over and hoisted me up from the ground./p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal""So tell me—if you're really not the luckiest son of a bitch than what are you?" I steadied myself on my somehow intact legs and smirked at her old taunt./p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal""I'll let you know when I find out." It wasn't a total lie. "I'm starving though."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal""You're always hungry." Annie pushed a branch out from the thicket and I followed. "How much you weigh now?"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal""About 130." I said proudly. "Still 10 pounds under the goal though."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal""You're goal or someone else's?" I clicked my tongue back at her and she knew. "I'm serious Ry, you ever going to tell me why you're really here? It's been well over a year and you owe me, the weight training, the hood…"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal""I take it you're not counting my 3DMG training and me kicking your ass in combat."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal""You've never kicked my ass!"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal""Perhaps… but keep in mind you've never kicked mine either." I could tell her frustration as she grit her teeth at the truth and smirked./p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal""Are you in trouble?" She quickly stopped and I narrowly smacked into her./p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal""What are you talking about?"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal""Don't play dumb, nobody comes in here late like you and has these abilities. Do you know how high you just em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"flung/em yourself without a care?! How em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"fast/em you just moved?! How em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"dauntless /emyou are? If I can't learn that in two years, how could you?" She demanded./p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal""I don't know." I answered. "I don't really remember much."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal""Well what the hell did you do to get yourself here?"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal""I have no idea. Let it go."span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanI sighed as I moved past her, signaling my end to the conversation. She let me walk about 10 feet before she started again./p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal""Do you think I'm going to hurt you?" I'll admit; I wasn't expecting that to be her comeback. I twisted my aching back to look at her; her signature was brighter than normal./p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal""You and I both know you have no reason too, so what kind of question is that?"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal""Then why lie to me?"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal""Lie?!" I faced her now as she walked over the bushes I had stomped down. "What makes you think I'm lying?"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal""You don't walk away, ever." She concluded. "You argue everything to the death. So why walk away from me now?"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal""Because I don't have an answer!" I yelled at her, to both our surprises. "I don't know what the answer is… I don't…remember…" I repeated quietly, the words numbed the pain in my back. "The truth is I don't know what I am. They called me a monster."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal""Who are they?"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal""I can't say." I brought my eyes up to hers now. "Why are you so curious?"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal""Because…" She eased back from my glare. "I—can't be weak."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal""Obviously." I scoffed at the hard truth she finally admitted "From the way you stalk around the grounds and isolate yourself in your attempt to feign strength." I pressed. "The question is why are you so afraid of being weak when you're surrounded by your em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"comrades? /emI'm supposed to be the odd man style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;""/em/p  
p class="MsoNormal"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;" /em/p  
p class="MsoNormal""Like you're any different." She spat back. "Don't think I haven't noticed—"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal""Why do you want to be like me?" I interrupted her. "Who do you think I am?" She laughed in my face at this./p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal""Because I want to kill all my enemies. Just like you." She left me with a smirk, as she passed me style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /span/p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal""Interesting for someone interested in the MP." I called after her as I walked./p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal""Trust me, I have my own plan." She craned her neck back to me. "I won't tell if you return the favor." I smiled at the jest as I caught up to the fierce blonde./p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal""So… does that list of yours include Bert?" I let her fist catch my shoulder, I was too happy to care./p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal""No but it may include Eren if you keep up this shit." She sped off as the words flew from her mouth and I sped off after her./p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal"It was another hour before we found our way out of the woods; we broke through the tree line as the sun broke over the horizon and stayed silent as we scurried into our bunks and stripped off the straps and gear. Unfortunately Mikasa was as light a sleeper as she always was and glared at us as we hopped into the top bunk above her. Although I hated witnesses, she was the best choice if need be, she never said a word of it./p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal"I filed into the mess hall with Annie and essentially fell into my chair. Annie simply smirked as I winced from my ass hitting the chair, I was exhausted and now bruised badly, this was going to be a great day./p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal""You alright over there?" Eren called and I looked up to his nearly blinding signature. I winced back under my hood and assumed it was Armin and Mikasa behind him as the three sat with us./p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal""Just fine." I replied coolly and Annie immediately snickered. I gave her a death glare but that only made her laugh harder./p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal""I think I'm missing something…" Eren trailed off next to me./p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal""Ry's missing half her ass." Annie laughed into her drink and I kicked her shin. She spat out milk on the table and it was my turn to laugh./p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal""What idiotic thing did you two do?" Mikasa's voice cut through all our laughter./p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal""I had a little mishap this morning, that's all." I fit between bouts of laughter as Armin giggled handing Annie napkins. "I may have lost a cheek in a tree."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal""Start your story over!" Reiner smacked down on my left with Bert at his side./p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal""Ry here smacked into about 50 trees with her fat ass." Annie countered, stepping on my toes./p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal""Ah screw you! You're jealous." I sneered back./p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal""One of these days you're going to get really hurt Ry." Armin started again with his worrying./p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal""Or she's going to kick more ass than any of us" Eren responded for me "When am I coming along on your 'secret' training runs? I can keep up!" He jabbed me in the side and I laughed in response to hide the pain./p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal""You'll just get yourself hurt—" Mikasa started./p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal""More importantly you'd get us caught." I finished, smirking back at Eren's big grin "You're not exactly subtle." I took a swig of my milk./p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal""Oh and you are?" He countered as he bit into his toast. I lightly jabbed him back./p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal""Anyway!" Bert announced as he tossed some papers to the center of the table. I grabbed one as hands flew and gave it to Eren; I leaned onto his shoulder as he began reading for me. A couple months back, the papers began running stories about the Renegades and it was our main source of outside entertainment, courtesy of Bert's grandfather. I didn't exactly know what to make of the gang they informed me of, it was clear they had solid support—enough for the media to share their stories. They were thugs but with good cause, each story was different and often changed my opinion weekly./p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal""Looks like King gave a speech this past week" Eren spoke softly as I listened "Looks like he spoke about Furiosa on the day the wall—"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal""Who?" I interrupted and I felt his eyes on me./p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal""Furiosa? You don't know Furiosa?" I looked back at him confused./p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal""No, you guys never mentioned a Furiosa? What the hell kind of name is that anyway?" I tried to joke but the tension at the table was deathly serious. "Why, who is she?"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal""Keep your voices down!" Armin harshly whispered./p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal""They said she was the soul of the Underground." Mikasa whispered behind Eren./p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal""em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"Is—" /emEren corrected "She could still be out there."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal""She's dead." Jean smacked the back of Eren's head and we peered up to him. "No one without training could survive an onslaught of Titans like that."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal""You're talking about em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"Furiosa/em" Eren started up "She's one of the strongest tags that's ever em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"lived—" /emMikasa grabbed Eren's shoulder as he rose and shoved him back into his chair, Eren's glare never left Jean's. "Have you even heard the stories?"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal""Of course I have! And that's all they are—stories." Jean scoffed in Eren's face as he sat on the bench behind us with Marco, his silent companion./p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal""Well we've seen her." Mikasa cut into the argument. "She moves faster and quieter than any soldier."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal""And she's far more ruthless." Armin spoke softly in Eren's defense./p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal""Bullshit, nobody's ever seen her." Reiner cut into the conversation between slurps of oatmeal./p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal""We did!" Eren countered. " She flew over our alleyway, there was over two squads of MP following her!"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal""They later found the squads completely dismembered on the northern side." Armin added./p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal""With signed papers from their sergeant, they had been selling government goods to the gangs in our district." Mikasa finished./p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal""Alright, who the hell is she?" I asked./p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal""Furiosa?" Jean looked around really quick. "She's a damn demon. Raised from hell itself."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal""No she's not!" Eren began to argue and I sighed as they started up again./p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal""She's a tag—which are considered demons to some idiots." Annie took another sip of her milk. "She didn't come from the tag guild or anywhere from the North. Nobody really knows where she came from but she's one of the highest ranked tags alive."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal""They said King made her" Bert spoke up./p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal""I thought Tags were a lineage?"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal""They are, they say King changed her from a normal—made her himself." Reiner started up now. "Apparently they're telling her final story, this speech is asking for all citizens' support while they continue their search for her. The day the wall fell; she was in Shiganshina with the other Renegades in a battle with Scouts over the territory. They're claiming she convinced the squad to fight the Titans and the army of hoods to evacuate the citizens."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal""She saved thousands of lives and fought where most of the Scout soldiers fled." Bert added. "They lost em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"two/em Renegades in that battle... losing a top tier tag is unheard of and those tags are ridiculously strong."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal""The thousands she saved were lost in the months to come. The King sent them back in the attempt to reclaim Shiganshina." Armin's grandfather came into my mind and I grit my jaw./p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal""Ryder!" I dropped my head in dread at his call. Noah came striding up to the table and grabbed my arm. "You're late—again!" He tugged at my arm and I stood and marched behind him./p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal""I fucking hate this idiot." I snapped as we came into the hall. Noah reached into my hood and grabbed a small twig./p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal""Are you fucking kidding me?" Noah snapped, scathing. "You're still going out? You're going to screw us over! Do you want to get caught?"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal""No I was thinking I could use the extra practice to prepare" I snapped back "We aren't here to follow this asshole's rules."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal""Following this asshole's rules is how we get the hell out of here!" He scathed back as we turned a corner./p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal""Are you kidding me? This is just some lowlife who—" I stopped short. Noah kept yelling in a whisper in my ear about how I need to focus but my eyes were on the corridor to our right. I pushed Noah out of the way and I sprinted down the hall. I saw it again to the right and I sprinted down a second hall, pushing random cadets out of my way. I kept sprinting after him and whipped around a corner—and toppled over the mountain that was Keith Shadis./p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal""Ah fuck" was all I could grumble before he heaved me up by my hair./p  
p class="MsoNormal"_/p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal""That wasn't very nice of you…" Worick snickered as he sipped tea./p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"Better than what you did to those Scouts… /emNico signed back. He was sitting on the rail in front of the mess hall while Worick leaned against it. Nicolas turned to watch the two small figures running in the dusk, holding a hefty log over their heads./p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal""How much longer do you think til em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"Lee /emcollapses? He's lasted longer than I thought."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal"em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"Can't be more than another hour, impressive though. /emWorick laughed./p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal""Yeah last time I saw him he could barely run a mile without puking." The two snickered together as cadets moved around them, filing into the mess hall for dinner. Some gave them strange looks, what were two scouts doing out here?span style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /spanNico would give them a passing glare and they quickly returned to their own business. A group of six waited out in the courtyard, staring at the same sight, gossiping to themselves as well./p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal"Eventually a figure collapsed to the ground, the other immediately dropped the other end of the log and ran to their side. Worick could hear Shadis screaming loud and clear, he could only imagine how loud it was next to Kaia. The two watched as Shadis had her lift the log herself—she struggled for a moment before finally heaving it over her back. She was bent at an awful angle as she balanced the log on her back; it stuck out about 7 feet above her head. Shadis screamed at her to continue on and somehow she jogged again. Shadis hoisted Noah over his shoulders and started back for camp—he had to be tired from screaming out there all day./p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal""He's going to hurt her…" Worick mumbled as he looked to Nicolas, whose jaw was already locked tight at the sight. "The sun's about to go down, why don't you make your way out there?" Nic nodded and hopped off the rail. Worick stayed a minute and watched him go as he finished his tea./p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal""Commander Shadis!" Worick held out big arms as he welcomed the old Commander back. Shadis looked up at him with a grunt as he dropped Noah to the ground./p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal""Handle that." He ordered Reiner as he turned his attention to the big, blonde Scout. "I haven't heard that call in years, but I never forget a face."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal""I'm one of the new guys. My partner is setting up in your new bunk. Looks like we came at the right time." Worick lowered his arms and waited for Shadis to meet him at the top of the stairs. Shadis walked slowly but stopped short at the first step./p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal""So you're a special recruit from the Scouts." Shadis spoke easy, knowing there were ears still lingering behind him. "That's the project I wrote about." He turned and pointed to the small figure lugging a log 3 times her length. "Ryder Church. That punk there is her brother, Lee." He turned back to Worick. "You think greenies can handle her?" Worick smirked as he leaned against the main post of the mess hall./p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal""We've got a whole plan laid out just for her."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal""It was an accident Shadis!" Eren called out and tried to step forward, Mikasa grabbed him once more and held him back. Worick looked at the boy with his good blue eye but Shadis didn't turn as he moved up the stairs to the mess hall door. "Shadis she doesn't need new training!"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal""I'LL DECIDE WHAT THAT LITTLE BITCH NEEDS!" His roar silenced the entire camp. He slowly turned to the shaken cadets. "SALUTE." They snapped into a slight quivering salute. "You may love that little cadet…" Shadis slowly made his way down the stairs and walked up to Eren, shadowing over him "…but you don't know what she em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"actually /emis." He leaned his face into Eren's, "Down to her core there is something seriously em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"unnatural /emabout her. They won't even give em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"me /emher full file." Eren's eyes were saucers and he was clearly shaken./p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal""S—sir. If I may—"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal""YOU MAY NOT." He screamed in his face again. "If you knew about the horrors of that child—"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal""Commander Shadis." Worick's call was low and respectful. Shadis looked back to the large, handsome blonde and realized the cadets of the camp had shifted around like mice to hear him. Shadis stood and called for them to return to their own business and stalked out to his office./p  
p class="MsoNormal"_/p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal"I lugged the damn log to the tree line, just as Shadis screamed in my ear to do. As soon as I hit the shade of it I dropped the weight and collapsed next to it, my arms were screaming. I was completely soaked in my sweat and I'm pretty sure my back was broken from this damn day. I laid back in the shade as I continued to contemplate what I saw—or rather who. I couldn't tell Noah about it because we spent the whole damn day in the sun with Shadis, running in circles around the camp while holding up that log. I know I saw someone and I mean I really saw him—he was taller than me, around Levi's height, with short black hair and a wicked grin. He was solid while still lean and he had a few light scars on his face but he was handsome in a tough-mug way. It was the first time I've ever seen, well anyone, but he was—oddly familiar. I brought my hands to my head and rubbed my face. First the voice in my head and now this, I must be going fucking insane./p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal"I yelled out in frustration at everything—Shadis, Levi, Smith, and now Noah and I were fighting nearly every day. I was already good enough to take down Titans—better than any other cadet! I just needed to—em style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"snap. /emI stopped and whipped my head back to the woods but there was nothing, no signature or anything./p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal""Don't freak out." A raspy voice came and I shot to my feet, searching but seeing nothing./p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal""Where are you?" I called out and reached to my back and realized my knife was gone—I forgot to keep it after our run this morning. "Who are you?"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal""Old friend." I whipped my head to the right then to the left but I couldn't locate the voice… it felt as if it was everywhere. Suddenly I saw a strong light signature step from behind a tree in the distance./p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal""Holy shit." I muttered and my heart started pounding. "Who the hell are you? Why can I see you?"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal""Shhh." His voice was…wrong. As if he never spoke before. He raised his hands up and came forward in his Scout uniform./p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal""I don't have any friends." I yelled as I stepped back./p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal""Yes." He called back as he kept walking to me, nodding his head. A weird feeling came over my stomach and I didn't know what to do, I started breathing heavily. "Shh." He brought his finger to his lips as he crossed into my clearing. As he stepped over the last thicket, I saw—more. The entire clearing came into view and then the trees—oh god the trees. I gasped as the entire world came into focus it was—breathtaking. I could see everything—each leaf on every tree, the branches, the animals I whipped around to see the camp—it was beautiful in the sunset./p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal""Kaia." I turned to his hand on my shoulder, he held out a bottle of water for me./p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal""Who—who are you?" I managed to choke out as I grabbed the unopened bottle and chugged it down. "How—" I let out between gulps. He smiled at me as he took my hand and I let him lead me into the woods./p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal"The sun was setting now, revealing the sparkling stars that I couldn't peel my eyes away. "I can't believe it." I smiled as I stepped over a small ditch. The air was so cool and sweet. "This whole time—I've been missing this the whole time."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal""I missed it too." I lowered my head back to my supposed friend. "I'm Nicolas but you used to call me Nico." His voice didn't sound like it was coming from the man in front of me, rather still ominously in my head—like my other voice. I looked at every inch of him in wonder; he smiled and gripped my hand tighter. I couldn't see him like the others now but I could—feel what I had always seen. I could feel his heart quicken and the sparks of electricity fly in my own chest every time he moved. "Kaia…" He pulled me in close as he whispered my name and my head rested on his broad chest. An overwhelming sensation of peace relaxed me and I sunk into his chest, as if it were right. "I'm so happy you're back." He whispered into my ear as he nuzzled close to me; I'd never felt so warm before./p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal""Nico…" I spoke softly to try out the name. It rolled off my tongue so graciously it was hard to believe I hadn't said it every day of my life. I instinctually tightened my arms around him to come in closer. "Nico…" I repeated and I drank in the moment. His right hand left my back and moved to my cheek. I peered up to him as he brushed my hood back off my head./p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal""You don't need that anymore." He promised with a grin and for the first time I realized I trusted him—I believed him, a complete and total stranger by all logical means, but I trusted him nonetheless. I realized his hand had moved back from my cheek. He pulled me in closer and I let him, warm lips touched my cool ones and I felt the tight feeling in my chest explode into my stomach and expand into my legs and arms. All at once they lost their strength but he somehow knew because he swept me up into his arms, my legs instinctually wrapped around his waist as he picked me up by my waist. I was mere inches above his face now, peering down at his smile./p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal""Nico." I spoke confidently with a matching smile as I leaned down to kiss him again./p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal"I opened my eyes to a burst of pain, I winced back and reached for my hood but someone threw a blanket over me./p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p  
p class="MsoNormal""Ryder..." I sighed at the name Eren spoke so sweetly. "I FOUND HER!" He called to the forest and I heard steps quicken in the distance. "Ry are you okay?" I winced behind the blanket and felt tears come to my eyes. I wrapped myself back into it and tried to dream again./p  
p class="MsoNormal" /p 


	7. Quiet Days

*** This chapter does contain some smut. It starts and ends with a small line of stars.

My fingers ran against the knuckles of the chair, synthesizing a lion's face in my mind; these were the same chairs Smith had in his office. For a crappy position, Shadis had a nice office; perhaps they were gifts from Smith for me. I smirked at the thought, Shadis was hustled for that trade-off—a nicer office was jack shit compared to the difficulties I'd given him.

"Stop smiling like that." Noah demanded. He was hunched over in the seat next to me. "Do you know how deep in shit we're in?"

"Stop chewing on your nails. You know how Farlan hated that." I eased back in the chair in an attempt to relax but my hands began drumming on the arms of the chair again.

"You need to calm down, you've been nothing but restless. When's the last time you slept?" The nightmares flashed in my mind—the man who ate the insides of carcasses, the POV hunts I had no control of, the red head who only left heads intact, the scarred man who walked through his fires, and the great man who could destroy buildings and battalions in a flash…no matter what it was, the hunts always ended with his face, his smiling grey face telling me how proud and happy I made him.

"Ry?" I jumped when I heard the call.

"I—uh. What?" My head was clouded.

"What's going on? You glaze over like that all the time now, we need to stay focused to stay. We only have 10 months left and—" The door opened behind us and we both craned our necks from our chairs.

"Stay seated." His grim voice demanded as he slammed the door behind him. I watched as the lurking man moved behind his desk. "I don't know what the hell to do with you anymore. You're an absolute fucking monster." I winced at the name but I didn't dare let him know. "You've attacked a fellow cadet, one you were friendly with, for no clear reason. You've destroyed the Titan obstacle courses to the point where they're irreparable. And on top of all that, you sent two other cadets to the infirmary in your brawl. According to my reports, no one incited you or pushed you in any way and these cadets have been you're friends. Do you have anything to say for yourself?"

"I… I don't remember any of it." I admitted as I racked my brain at the accusations as I had done over and over again. I only remembered seeing Isabel when Mikasa and Reiner pried me off of Eren, my cheeks wet and my throat sore. I remembered sitting in the wooden pieces, absolutely exhausted, when the lantern lights of the squad leaders found me, their guns and blades ready for a fight; and then the worst of all, when I came back to it in chains, surrounded by beaten and bruised friends—Armin cowered in the back while Eren comforted him, guarded by Mikasa while Reiner and Bert held me down and Annie was on top of me, holding me down. I sent Jean and another to the infirmary, I couldn't beg for forgiveness more. They all said it was okay but I could tell they were wary…except Eren and Annie. Eren still sat near me and spoke sweetly to me as he always did and Annie always had my back—I could trust her to keep me in check, as I could trust Mikasa to keep me from hurting Eren.

"I'm putting your training under two Scouts." Shadis declared and I tuned back in, his scolding and insults finally done. "You will be on a separate schedule from the others and live in the officer's quarters, under their constant supervision. You will train only in the depths of the woods and, if you can survive their training, you will become a Scout. You will obey their every damn command, if I hear of one issue—one insult or step out of place—you will rot in prison for the rest of your pitiful life."

"Okay." I immediately consented, to both Noah and Shadis's surprise. "I don't want to hurt anyone." My stomach was in knots from the memories and I began hearing hot whispers in my ears, the classic signs of her presence. I needed to get out of there before she came back.

Every vein thumped fiercely against my skin with the bounding pumps of my heart. My head was throbbing as I clenched my muscles to keep control; my teeth ached as I ground them against each other. I could hear and feel _everything—_ my skin was crawling with each soft breeze, my blood felt hot in my heart and I could hear my nails and hair growing slowly. The maddening part of it was being in the mess hall—every cackle, voice pitch, utensil scrapings, the chewing, the snorting, the smacking of lips… I was shaking with rage but I had to contain it otherwise—

"Kaia." Noah whispered to me from across our table. "Are you alright?"

"No." I managed to say through grit teeth. "I—I don't know what's happening." I clenched my eyes shut in an attempt to keep myself still. _I'm going insane, that's what's happening. I'm deeply hallucinating, I can't sleep from the nightmares, I'm losing it Noah please help me, I don't want to hurt anyone._ I wanted to tell him everything but… but what would actually happen? How could he possibly help me? Could anyone? My hands began shaking, more and more violently as I shook my tray. It became louder and louder where I could feel some eyes dart towards me. _Don't look at me. Don't you fucking look at me._ The sinister voice returned and I winced back from my own head, I didn't know how to hold her in.

That's when it hit me. I mean literally, it hit me. I looked to the table as the bottle of water rolled across to Noah, who was also surprised. _Drink._ His voice came back into my mind and I obeyed, I grabbed the water and chugged the sweet water, a good bit of it dribbled down my throat but I got the majority. When I finished I could breathe again and my body was normal.

I was standing at my table and everything came into view once more—I saw the few cadets that were in the mess hall this early. I saw Noah—oh my god Noah. He was so much older he looked like a man grown now; I would've sworn it was Farlan with long, luscious gray lochs. He peered up at me anxiously with beautiful golden eyes. His lips were moving but I could care less. He stood to me, a few inches higher than I imagined. Then his eyes left mine for something behind me. I turned and there he was, standing behind me with a familiar looking blonde.

"Well don't just stand there, mouth agape" the one eyed blonde spoke softly "eat, you're going to need your strength." I slowly sat down, still staring at Nico in a Scout's uniform—had he worn that before? Was he a Scout? How did I miss that? Nicolas kept a stern face as he took the seat next to me with his own tray of food. The blonde took to the bench next to Noah with his.

"Who are you?" Noah questioned the handsome blonde who was twice his size.

"We're her new trainers." He kept eating as I looked to Nico. His dark brown eyes gave me a darting glance, I snapped out of my odd fixation and focused on my own food. Noah gave me an odd look at my demeanor; I was leaving the questioning to him.

"Wait already? And _her_ new trainers?" He said nervously "Where are you from?"

"Oh pardon my manners sire." Worick mocked as he sipped at his oatmeal. "I didn't know I was here to answer all your fucking questions." Noah was taken aback and he looked to me.

"What do I call you then?" I spoke up for my struggling brother.

"Marcus."

"And him?" I motioned my head to Nico, eating quietly beside me. William smiled oddly at me, he must be happy I'm playing along.

"Jackson, but you won't need to address him. He's hard of hearing." Nico rolled his eyes and began motioning his hands around. _And you're half blind. What a team we make._ I smirked before I realized my mistake. Noah gave me a questioning glare.

"And I've got bad eyesight. Looks like we'll have quite a time together." I awkwardly saved myself and drifted back to my food as Noah eased back. I'd definitely have to be more careful. 'Marcus' grinned. That was proof right there; I had to trust these two characters, if we weren't old friends how would I be able to read sign language?

"Alright that's enough." Marcus gulped down the rest of his food as Jackson finished his tray. They both stood and eyed me; I followed obediently as they started out of the mess hall. "Take care of that _Lee_." I meekly smiled as I looked back to Noah, but it did nothing to ease the fear and anger written all over his face, we hadn't been separated in…well since I could remember waking up.

They stayed silent as they led me straight out to the woods, cadets peered at us and whispered but we never skipped a step. Once we hit the tree line I spoke up.

"What the hell is going on here?" Marcus turned and smiled at me, he broke pace with Nico to talk with me. Nico kept his eyes straight and we followed him now.

"Worick. You may remember me as Wallace."

"I'm… Kaia I guess. That's the last name I remember." Worick smirked and threw an arm around my shoulder.

"Good. We missed you Kai."

"How long has it been? Who was I? How do I even know you two? And you!" I softly clipped Nico's ankle to get his attention "Why the hell did you leave me in the woods? I thought I was going insane! And do you know how heavy that fucking log was?" He looked back with a gnarly smirk as a deep chuckle escaped from his throat.

"We had to be sure it was you, and it was my plan." I looked up to Worick's shining white smile as he pinched my shoulder. "Not a good one I admit but it worked. Listen we're here to get you out."

"Out?" I stopped short. They both whipped their heads to me.

"Yeah, out. We want you to come back, we've found a way to get home." Worick said in confusion that was mirrored on Nico's face. "Don't… don't you remember home?"

"I've never had a home." I answered honestly. Worick ran his hand through his hair as he looked to Nico, who's stone cold face reminded me of Levi.

"We, the three of us, we were a family years back Kaia. We lived in that run down place? It stank of wet mold and the stray dogs that always found their way in and—well we always dreamed of a home and we've found—"

"I don't know either of you." I interrupted him. "I mean, there's a sense of familiarity and I can apparently read sign language, but that's all."

"Oh…" Nico's face frowned for a millisecond at my words. "Well…it was after Farlan and Isabel died. You and Noah ran north from Levi and his Scouts, you worked with us under Monroe—he's one of the fathers, remember?" I could tell he was struggling with my blank look. "Kaia, you and Noah lived with us in the basement of a hideout of his for well over a year. I mean we didn't know Noah too well because you were so protective and he was, well pretty disturbed for awhile there I don't think he ever said a word, but we were family Kaia."

"Do you know… what I did?" I asked him honestly. "What was I?" The little color that was in his crystal pale skin left him and Nico dropped his head, avoiding eye contact. "Tell me." I demanded. "I have a right to know."

"One night…the Scouts found you and Noah and we were separated in the run. We tried to find you…" his voice softened to barely above a whisper "…but all we found was Noah, taken in by the Scouts. We…well lost you."

"So what the hell happened?" I grew impatient with worry as he slowly told the story.

"The Renegades." Nico grumbled; I looked to him now.

"W—what?" I lost my breath.

"You became Furiosa." Worick finally admitted. "The next time we saw you, you were Furiosa. Flying recklessly over Ergastulum as King waged war on the Fathers." I didn't hear the rest of it as everything began rushing together—the voice, the scars, the dreams… everything began spinning together and I closed my eyes as I remembered the stories of the Renegades…

I woke up to a sharp pain across my cheek. "Agh fuck!" I opened my eyes to Nico crouching at my side and Worick bending over above him.

"Yeah, we've got a lot of work to do on you." I rolled my eyes as Nico helped to sit me up, my head was throbbing.

"You went and cut yourself." Nico muttered as he pressed a torn piece of his black shirt against my right eyebrow.

"I can't be Furiosa… It's not—I don't hurt people. I've never—" I stopped my argument when I saw the looks on their faces. "Alright well how the hell can I be a tag?"

"It's this drug, celebrer. King found you after you fell into a cavern and brought you to a tag doctor. He essentially infused you with celebrer because he confused you with a tag." Worick lit a cigarette and straightened up as Nico dabbed my brow again.

"Normals can't survive that."

"You did." Nico grumbled to me with a slight smile.

"Am I a tag then?" I asked and he shrugged. "Wait how the hell can I see?"

"Not a fucking clue." Worick spoke between puffs. "It happened before you changed. For some reason, Nicolas can hear when you're around. Apparently it works both ways."

"Wait… you can hear?" I smiled at Nico and he flushed a bit as he tried to hide his own real smile. "That's amazing!" I brought both my hands to Nico's warm cheeks in my excitement. After a moment his demeanor changed and he shook his head from my hands with a grunt. I looked up to see Worick's one-eyed glare, I immediately followed Nico's example.

"So… what's the end goal?" I took the cloth from Nico's hand and held it to my eye.

"Nico and I are going to train you to be as strong as you once were, but as Kaia. We're getting out of all of it. All of the crime and the killings and the politics… we want a quiet, peaceful life where we can disappear. Dr. Theo told us about whatever he did to save you and change you back. Benriya isn't complete without you." Worick opened his right palm to reveal an old gash and Nico did the same. I smiled as I looked to the same gash on my own palm.

"Benriya." I repeated. "That sounds familiar… but it really sounds like someone's in love and wants to settle down." I smiled as Nico held out his hand, I took it gracefully and Worick blushed. "What's her name and what do you need from me?"

"Alex." Nico grunted again. "He needs extra protection; you know—cost of business."

"You can promise me a peaceful life away from all this bullshit?" I looked up into Nico's deep brown eyes and I realized he was still holding my hand, hiding it from Worick's view.

"Yes, I promise." He squeezed my hand before he let it go and casually brushed it through his hair.

"Then it's a deal." I felt my heart quicken and my face blush slightly at the idea. "Let's get started."

4 Months Later

I landed silently on the tree branch to catch my breath as quietly as I could. I saw the cool puffs in the breeze and pulled my grey scarf tight to my nose. I looked around the woods, the pines were dashed with a slight snow, fresh from the night prior but the ground was completely barren from the cold. Each breath of air was freezing for just a moment before it instantly felt like fire in my throat; I was breathing heavier than normal, or was I? Wait, how long had it been? And where the hell were we? I didn't recognize the trees, they weren't any of the broken trunks from our past fights and—my vision began to shorten, the black walls began creeping in and y vision turned fuzzy, the light signatures of my old vision returned, dim from the lack of life. How far away was Nico?

"Nic!" I called out, he'd never done this before and – _click, click whoosh._ Ah shit. I started off in a random direction, firing off my new hooks. Suddenly we were racing, my vision began to return and I knew he was on my tail. I shot between trees, flipping and twisting with accuracy but I could still see more and more. I moved faster and faster, beginning to crack the trees, which didn't help my case with his heightened hearing. I had full vision but I couldn't put a read on him, I was just fleeing now—I hated that.

A spark of light flashed beneath me and I twisted up, turning myself upside down and backwards to dodge the katana. I smiled at Nico as I grabbed his black collar with my right hand and shot my left forearm hook into a trunk, we quickly spun to the left and I flung him into a tree as I pulled myself to land perpendicular on the trunk. I released the hook and extended my claw hand into the trunk above me, flinging myself up as Nico recovered mid-air and pushed off towards me. I flung myself higher and dodged his katana, which was stuck in the trunk where my torso had been mere seconds earlier. I came back down as he struggled to pull his sword from the trunk, closer, closer, only another foot… BAM!

I grabbed his right shoulder and pressed his arm down, the flat side of his sword smacked my right cheek but my grab was strong enough so that he lost his katana as we fell. By the time we hit the ground and he opened his eyes, I was on top of him: my left claw holding his right shoulder down, my left knee on his right pelvic bone, my right foot pinning his left hand to the ground and my right hand flexed, my forearm dagger drawn to the tip of his nose. I smiled as his sword clanked against the frozen ground a few yards to our right.

"Check mate." I whispered between breaths and he laughed his deep throaty laugh back. Suddenly he thrust his left hip up and I lost control. The next thing I knew I was slammed against the frozen ground with him on top of me: straddling his weight on my hips, his left arm pinning my right hand next to my head while simultaneously pressing against my throat, and his right arm on my left hip. I pushed against him but I underestimated his size, he was only 3 inches taller but he had at least twenty pounds on me. He was lean with sizable muscle but he weighed a fucking ton.

"I've told you. Never try to pin your opponent, you're too delicate Petunia." I grit my teeth and pushed harder against the unstoppable force of his body, I kicked my feet up underneath me and tried to press against the ground but it was useless—he barely budged. After a few minutes of struggling from every angle and him laughing, I finally gave up.

"Alright," I finally relaxed, exhausted "don't fucking call me that." It only elicited another laugh from him and I made another face, as I rolled my eyes at him, upset I messed up another tackling maneuver.

"Oh c'mon Kai." He stopped as he leaned in closer. "You're not going to let me enjoy this, not even a little bit? We haven't been alone in weeks…" I couldn't help my blush as he came closer and closer.

"Nico!" I whispered as he bit the tip of my scarf and pulled it down from my nose with his teeth. "What if Wor—" his lips pressed tightly into mine, taking all my breath away. I instantly eased into his as he did with me, I retracted the blade on my arm and he relaxed his arm, allowing me to grab his cheek and pull him even closer. He bit my lip and I gasped slightly, giving him enough space to slip his tongue in. I smiled at the sweet trick.

Suddenly his forearm left my collar and slid under the curve of my back, his right hand drifted down between my legs, causing me to squirm in a hot flash of excitement. He quickly lifted me from underneath him and I instinctually wrapped my legs around his waist, pulling myself onto his lap. His grip between my legs became stronger and I pulled my lips away from his to breathe. He didn't skip a beat as he moved his smooth, wet lips down my neck; I began to gasp and tighten my fists in the back of his shirt, struggling to stay quiet as he began to rub harder and harder. My heart began pumping harder and harder, my breath even harder to catch as I began to tremble against him.

I clenched my eyes shut and felt him jump to his feet. We rushed back and he pushed me back into a tree, a breeze of cool air against my wet crotch gave me a shock as both his hands moved under my hoodie, cradling my waist. His skin was so warm against mine as I felt him harden between my legs for the first time. "Nico!" I gasped loud into his ear from the intense tingling from the pressure; he pressed harder as he tightened his hands around my abs.

"Say my name." I opened my eyes to his fire coal eyes burning into mine. His hand darted from my waist, slipping under my tight bra and grabbing my right breast. He twisted my hardened nipple between his heavy fingers and I moaned sharply. "Say my name." He repeated and I threw my head back.

"Nico!" I yelled in a mix of pleasure and pain and I bit my lip as I returned to the trunk of the tree. He pressed his torso against me and slipped his under hand from my waist under my jeans and thong. His warm, thick fingers pressed into me and I felt the heat burn my cheeks and chest as I yelled out for him again. He pressed further and further into me and I kept yelling, I felt so tight against his fingers that—my eyes shot open as did his.

"Fuck." He grumbled as he let me back down. I buttoned my jeans and quickly shot my left hook up and landed on a high branch.

I was lying on the snowy branch; face down when Worick strode up on his horse, a second one tied behind him. He was wearing the green Scout trench coat and had a bundle of clothes tied to the horse. I rose to a sitting position and rubbed my head as I winced.

"Kaia!" Worick called. "What the hell happened? You're miles into the woods. It's been 3 hours! You're only supposed to doing an hour's worth—"

"It's Nic's fault!" I called back. "I can't find him, I went for a tackle and—"

"You know you're not supposed to—"

"Yeah, yeah." I called down as I jumped the 30 feet to the ground. I rolled to his horse and stood slowly. "Fury never did real tackles, just the sneak stabbing attacks from the back. I don't want to have to kill every time though—you never know." I shrugged into his skeptical eye. "Anyway, I flung us somewhere when his sword caught my cheek and I can't find him." I looked around, actually searching. "Nico!" I tried to imitate the same yell from before.

He grunted from behind both of us. I turned to see him emerge from some bush, twigs and leaves caught in his jet-black hair. _Quit it, you're giving me a headache._ He signed in Worick's presence. _She did well this time, except for the ending tackle._ I rolled my eyes.

"Alright alright, I'll stop trying."

"It's taken me an hour and half to find the two of you." Worick shivered. "C'mon, you can't be late to the announcement." I nodded as Worick reached his gloved hand to me and grabbed it. He hoisted me up behind him and untied the second horse for Nicolas. "Jesus, you two are like space heaters." He shivered into me, cinching further into his scarf and coat as I wrapped my arms around his waist. He clicked his heels into the horse and we began trotting, I looked back to Nico, he smirked at our nonchalance as I rode off.

"What do you think they do?" Sasha whispered to Connie as I walked past.

"I don't know but it's loud as hell. Like they're breaking the trees." Connie whispered back. I ignored them, just as I ignored everyone else. It was the safest bet—just withdraw from everything. No excitement or challenge meant maybe I could control that part of me better and then I wouldn't change. I moved into my position and took the salute.

Withdrawing was much easier than I thought—especially now with Nicolas and Worick around. After the past few weeks with Nicolas, my vision had improved where I could see 10 yards around me when he was anywhere on campus grounds, approximately about a mile or so. I had to keep my new vision a secret from everyone—including Noah, who would've raised the alarms as soon as I mentioned it. I didn't know exactly who was at play here, now knowing what I was, I couldn't trust anyone—including myself but Nico and Worick did a great job isolating me from the others.

Annie took her position next to me and saluted in silence, something I appreciated because it really did bring me pain to ignore her for so long. I missed our antics but it wasn't safe, the voice could return if I became too excited and I now knew its true power. All I wanted was to be alone, in a place where the Scouts or the Renegades could never touch me again.

Eren smiled at me as he made his way to the line on my right and I couldn't help the small grin I sent back, still so sweet when I hadn't spoken a word to him in god knows how long. It made me happy seeing him happy. Above the rest of them, the hardest to ignore had been Eren. The first time I saw him, I almost fell back on my ass in shock. His eyes—his big, beautiful, green eyes…every time I looked into them I saw Isabel again, it was torturous. I know understood why I 'attacked' him all those weeks ago, his eyes matched hers with every sparkle.

"You're bleeding Cadet." I looked up to Shadis, who snuck up in front of me. Noah trailed behind him; something was off in his gold eyes. I raised my hand to my cheek; a dash of dark red glistened on the tip of my finger. I quickly brushed my left cheek with the back of my hand, the silver wrappings moved like cloth but were tough as metal. It was still numb from where the side of Nico's katana caught me. He may have gotten me this time but it was no secret I was getting better.

"My apologies sir." I meekly replied, keeping my eyes on his dirty boots. The obedience he wanted didn't seem to satisfy him.

"New hood?" He remarked as he examined the black metallic hood that flowed perfectly over my head, it had fit better than anything I had ever worn. I hid it under the trainee jacket, which subsequently hid the bulky forearm devices from his view. "And jeans…?" He spoke of the matching black jeans that hugged the curvy muscle I worked these past years to gain; they fit as a thicker skin, free enough so I could feel each breeze with protection as it also had strips of the strange black metal woven in-between the threads.

"Yes sir, Jackson gave them to me." I answered honestly to the incredulous man, I had been training in this attire for awhile now, how long had it been since Shadis saw me? "It's all weighted, adds about 25 pounds." I lied about the mysteriously lightweight armor, just as Worick told me.

"Mmhmm. You have no shoes?" His voice was heavy with curiosity and I felt eyes dart to me. I followed his glare to my silver wrapped feet and wiggled my bare toes; everyone was suited up in their own trench coats and scarves to match, I would've overheated in that nonsense but it worked out to look like Worick was torturing me in the cold. To the regular eye, my straps looked like meek grey strips of cloth that shimmered in light but they were woven with silver, keeping my feet strong. They were extensions of the straps for 3DMG, same function as everyone else's only mine were thinner and stronger. They were skinny enough to not be bulky or uncomfortable like the leather so I could wear it on my bare skin without it tugging or pinching.

"Uh yes sir… Jackson says boots are for real soldiers." I lied once more for Shadis's approval but his eyes were on my hips.

"I'd rather her not have blades either." Worick came up behind me I went to step back for him. "Keep that salute." His whipped a riding crop across my right thigh and I winced, grumbling in fake pain as we practiced. Shadis smirked as I made my right leg wobble to keep salute.

"I was wondering where her gear was." Shadis commented to Worick. I still had the basic metal chassis of the regular gear around my hips. It looked useless but I had thinner gas tanks strapped to my back, hidden under a plate of the lightweight, black metal that fit around my torso like a corset. There were hidden metal rings under my silver straps on each finger that controlled the actual gear; they took the place of the annoying hand triggers that held the long blades. It was completely functional and I didn't have to lug around the big containers for blades like before. "Looks like you've got this under control." Shadis's lips creaked up to a small smile on the right side as he moved on. Noah slowly followed him, his eyes stayed big on me. I smiled back but he kept the same plain look of confusion and horror. Worick pinched my cheek and smiled at my grimace. He followed Shadis to the staging area in front of the lines. I watched as the girls stared and drooled slightly as he passed, it was pathetic but amusing nonetheless. Sasha's mouth was fully agape as it usually was when the tall blonde was in sight; Connie kept his eyes down, his face red and his jaw grit tight.

I felt warmth on my back and knew Nico was lurking in the crowd somewhere. He never liked being in the spotlight as Worick did; it comforted me to know he had my back while Worick entertained the troops in front of me.

"You're horrible at acting." Annie whispered and I eyed her back, she pulled her lips back to a slight smile, mirroring my own.

"Cadets of the 104th." I turned back to Shadis's booming voice. Noah stood behind him with the trainers, his face still pale and plain, it worried me. "Our deadline for teaching has been shortened due to recent, troubling events. Our grading will begin in two weeks and last for another 3 weeks. We will be drilling on an 18-hour basis instead of 12 hour, you will no longer have Sundays off and you will have one day of relief, the day before grading begins. Begin studying now, the classes will become much faster paced and you are expected to understand everything fully. Any questions, address them to Lee Church. You are dismissed." The murmurs started as soon as Shadis finished. So he made Noah his bitch, at least he was guaranteed to graduate when I did. Suddenly the entire camp came into view and I saw Worick's face clearly—something was obviously wrong. Nico put his hand on my shoulder, I looked up to him and was taken aback, I'd never seen him worried.

 _We need to move, fast._


End file.
